- ABC News Facebook users were asked to shared their experiences with hospital waiting times:
- A four hour maximum is still far better than the 8 some of you say you've had to wait for. We've personally never had to wait more than 3 hours, but then we don't tend to go up there unless we really need to. Triage is always quick, so you know you're being seen in order of urgency. I'm grateful we have a system where we can be seen. In some places in the world, people line up for hours to see a dr just because its the only way they can access a dose of panadol.
- I believe the reason there are so many people going to emergency department of hte hostpitla is that there are so few doctors that will bulk bill patients and if people have to pay anything to see a doctor they will be lucky to get 50% of the cost back. If the government increase the medicare rebate I believe that it will then become cheaper to see a doctor and the waiting time in public hosptial will be dramatically reduced.
- depends a lot on urgency and how things are going. Ive been admitted almost immediately, and also waited for a very long time. They need more collaboration between the states and federal, as Gps available on site for non urgent cases would make a lot of sense, but how to work out who funds what is tricky. ALso more nurses would make a diff, as lots of stuff nurses can do, very few things are urgent.
- working in ED you get delays caused by being inundated with people with minor problems. These get delayed when people with major injuries, cardiac or other serious problems arrive. Staffing levels are set by admin/rostering with little ability to increase staff when we get overloaded. While ever we keep blaming hospitals we miss the opportunity to discuss the real cause of delays which is funding for adequate staffing levels.
- I was bitten by a snake earlier this year and was going into shock when I arrived at Nambour. They took me right through and treated me without so much as asking me my name. I couldn't praise them more highly. All staff in the ER and the rest of the hospital after I left the ER, were just brilliant - couldn't have been quicker or more attentive.
Report says patients waiting too long in emergency departments
ABC News asked users on Facebook to share their experiences with hospital waiting times, after a national performance report showed hospitals were failing to meet emergency room waiting time targets.
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