ACT public hospitals have failed to meet many of their key performance targets as the Australian Medical Association warns a "perfect storm" is about to hit the hospital system.
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The AMA's Public Hospital Report Card, published on Thursday, found the territory failed to meet its target of treating 80 per cent of urgent emergency department presentations within 30 minutes.
Only 50 per cent of urgent presentations were seen within the recommended time, below the national average of 70 per cent. However, this was an improvement on 2012-13 figures.
While waiting lists for elective surgery improved marginally, only 50 per cent of category two patients were seen within the recommended 90 days. This was well below the national average of 79 per cent.
AMA president associate professor Brian Owler said the report made it clear the public hospital system was not meeting clinical demand and the situation would get worse unless Commonwealth funding increased.
Associate professor Brian Owler said the performance and funding of hospitals should be a priority at the COAG meeting in Canberra and the meeting of health ministers in Sydney on Friday.
"The federal government cut $1.8 billion in May in the 2014-15 budget by ceasing funding guarantees under the National Health Reform Agreement," he said.
"There was a further $941 million funding reduction to the states in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook in December."
But ACT Opposition leader Jeremy Hanson said the public hospital system had faced challenges for a number of years and poor performance could not be blamed on the 2013-14 budget.
"I think there is a need for more funding but it's also a matter of priorities for the ACT Government and it is evident to everyone that their priority is the light rail," he said.
"The overwhelming amount of Canberrans I speak to say they want to see an increase in spending on health, education and other important services in the ACT."
Associate professor Brian Owler said public hospital funding would be the single greatest challenge for state and territory finances in the foreseeable future.
"A perfect storm is building ahead of new Commonwealth public hospital funding arrangements based on indexation and population growth, which will take effect from 2017-18," he said.
The AMA president said the new arrangements would be imposed on a system already struggling with insufficient capacity and underperforming against key benchmarks.
Last month, the emergency department at Canberra Hospital recorded on of its busiest fortnights with staff tending to 2842 presentations.
Staff at the emergency department reported the hospital moved to a Code Yellow status on multiple occasions representing an "internal disaster", with patients being treated in hallways.
The AMA report also found the number of public hospital beds available to Australians aged 65 or older had been slashed by 43 per cent since 1992-93.
Nationally, median waiting times for elective surgery have increased during the past 10 years and have stalled at 36 days for the past three years.
The report also found Australia's expenditure on health had been stable as a share of GDP growing only 1 per cent over the past 10 years.
"If it proceeds with its savings measures, the Commonwealth will lock in hospital funding and capacity at the inadequate levels demonstrated by current performance," the report said.
