Inpatients benefit from four-hour target

The introduction of the controversial four-hour waiting time target across WA emergency departments has been declared a success.

An evaluation of Princess Margaret Hospital for Children — which introduced a target wait time in 2008 — reported improved access without any adverse impacts on clinical care.

The key reform was the ability of the hospital to discharge a higher proportion of in-patients before 10am.

The findings come at a key time for emergency departments. According to the AMA last week, only 64% of emergency visits in 2011/12 were completed in four hours or less — well short of the 90% National Emergency Access Target set for 2015. 

The Princess Margaret