See Non-admitted patient emergency department service episode—triage category, code N for description of each triage category.

The numerator and denominator include records with a Type of visit of Emergency presentation. 

Records are excluded from both the numerator and denominator if the episode end status is either 'Did not wait to be attended by a health care professional', or 'Dead on arrival', or 'Registered, advised of another health care service, and left the emergency department without being attended by a health care professional' or if the waiting time to service is invalid.

The scope for calculation of this indicator is all hospitals reporting to the Non-admitted patient emergency department care (NAPEDC) National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) 2017–18 and NAPEDC National Best Endeavours Data Set (NBEDS) 2017–18.

Analysis by state and territory is based on location of service.

Analysis by remoteness and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) is based on usual residence of person.

Presented as a percentage.

100 x (Numerator ÷ Denominator)

Calculated overall and separately for each triage category.

Number of presentations to public hospital emergency departments that were treated within benchmarks for each triage category:

• Triage category 1: seen within seconds, calculated as less than or equal to 2 minutes
• Triage category 2: seen within 10 minutes
• Triage category 3: seen within 30 minutes
• Triage category 4: seen within 60 minutes
• Triage category 5: seen within 120 minutes

Total presentations to public hospital emergency departments

2017–18—Nationally, by Triage category, by 2016 SEIFA IRSD deciles (not reported).

2017–18—State and territory, by Triage category by:

• peer group
• Indigenous status
• remoteness (Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016 Remoteness Structure)
• 2016 SEIFA IRSD quintiles

Disaggregation by peer group uses the peer group classification as described in the AIHW publication Australian hospital peer groups.

Some disaggregation may result in numbers too small for publication.

Most recent data available for 2019 National Healthcare Agreement performance reporting: 2017–18.

For 2017–18 data, the 2016 SEIFA IRSD quintile and decile data will be produced using the ASGS 2016 geographical unit of Statistical Area Level 2.

Note that for the 2016 and previous reports the scope for the calculation of this indicator was limited to public hospitals in Peer Groups A and B, using the peer group classification method as reported in Australian hospital statistics 2010–11, with the addition of emergency department activity at the Mersey Community Hospital.

NN[N]

National Healthcare Agreement

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Specification: Final, the measure meets the intention of the indicator.

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2012. Australian hospital statistics 2010–11. Health services series no. 43. Cat no. HSE 117. Canberra: AIHW.

AIHW 2015. Australian hospital peer groups. Health services series no. 66. Cat. no. HSE 170. Canberra: AIHW.