National Healthcare Agreement: PI 21b-Waiting times for emergency hospital care: Proportion completed within four hours, 2013

Data are provided as per the Non-admitted patient emergency department care (NAPEDC) National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) 2012-13.

The scope for calculation of the National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) is all hospitals reporting to the NAPEDC NMDS (Peer Group A, B and other) as at August 2011 (when the National Health Reform Agreement - National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services was signed). For the duration of the agreement, hospitals that have not previously reported to the NAPEDC NMDS can come into scope, subject to agreement between the jurisdiction and the Commonwealth.

Calculation includes all presentations with a physical departure date/time in the reporting period, including records where the presentation date/time is prior to the reporting period. Invalid records are excluded from the numerator and denominator. Invalid records are records for which:

• Length of stay < 0
• Presentation date or time missing
• Physical departure date or time missing

Calculation includes presentations with any Type of visit to emergency department.

Emergency department (ED) stay length is calculated by subtracting 'Time patient presents' and 'Date patient presents' from 'Emergency department physical departure time' and 'Emergency department physical departure date' respectively, as per the business rules included in the NAPEDC NMDS 2012-13:

• If the patient is subsequently admitted to this hospital (either short stay unit, hospital-in-the-home or non-emergency department hospital ward), then record the time the patient leaves the emergency department to go to the admitted patient facility.
  • Patients admitted to any other ward or bed within the emergency department have not physically departed the emergency department until they leave the emergency department
  • If the patient is admitted and subsequently dies before leaving the emergency department, then record the time the body was removed from the emergency department.
• If the service episode is completed without the patient being admitted, then the time the patient's emergency department non-admitted clinical care ended.
• If the service episode is completed and the patient is referred to another hospital for admission, then record the time the patient leaves the emergency department.
• If the patient did not wait, then record the time the patient leaves the emergency department or was first noticed as having left.
• If the patient leaves at their own risk, then record the time the patient leaves the emergency department or was first notices as having left.
• If the patient died in the emergency department, then record the time the body was removed from the emergency department. If an emergency department physician certified the death of the patient outside the emergency department, then record the time the patient was certified dead. If the patient was dead on arrival, then record the time the body was removed from the emergency department.

Presentation time and date are the time and date of the first recorded contact with an emergency department staff member. The first recorded contact can be the commencement of the clerical registration or triage process, whichever happens first.