A website where people can see just how busy Canberra's emergency departments are and how many patients are waiting to be treated went live on Tuesday.
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The website shows real-time data about activity at Calvary and Canberra Hospital emergency departments such as the number of patients in the waiting room, how many are receiving treatment and how many people are likely to present in the next two hours.
It also indicates how long 90 per cent of patients in the preceding four hours waited to be treated and reveals how many patients are waiting to be admitted.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said the website would help patients to make an informed decision about which hospital would best meet their needs, particularly those with lower-urgency conditions.
“It is designed to help people make an informed decision about the best and quickest place to seek treatment, particularly for patients with non life or limb threatening conditions," she said.
Ms Gallagher said the website also offered information about other options for care, such as walk-in centres and general practice.
She said presentations to Canberra's two emergency departments had grown 25 per cent in the past six years.
"The number of people presenting to hospital for treatment is disproportionate to the population growth and the ACT government has recognised that we need to ensure the community is well informed about other alternative treatment options," she said.
As of about 4pm on Tuesday the website indicated there was one patient in the Calvary ED waiting room compared with 10 at Canberra Hospital. There were 30 patients at Calvary receiving treatment compared with 27 at Canberra Hospital.
At Calvary, 90 per cent of patients treated in the previous four hours waited more than two hours, but at Canberra Hospital they waited one hour and 48 minutes.
There were 214 presentations at Canberra Hospital emergency department in the past 24 hours compared with 164 at Calvary.
The website can be accessed at: http://health.act.gov.au/emergency/live-emergency-data-information