• Gerry FitzGerald, Sam Toloo, Joanna Rego, Joseph Ting, Peter Aitken, and Vivienne Tippett.
• School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. gj.fitzgerald@qut.edu.au
• Emerg Med Australas. 2012 Feb 1;24(1):72-8.

ObjectiveHospital EDs are a significant and high-profile component of Australia's health-care system, which in recent years have experienced considerable crowding. This crowding is caused by the combination of increasing demand, throughput and output factors. The aim of the present article is to clarify trends in the use of public ED services across Australia with a view to providing an evidence basis for future policy analysis and discussion.MethodsThe data for the present article have been extracted, compiled and analysed from publicly available sources for a 10 year period between 2000-2001 and 2009-2010.ResultsDemand for public ED care increased by 37% over the decade, an average annual increase of 1.8% in the utilization rate per 1000 persons. There were significant differences in utilization rates and in trends in growth among states and territories that do not easily relate to general population trends alone.ConclusionsThis growth in demand exceeds general population growth, and the variability between states both in utilization rates and overall trends defies immediate explanation. The growth in demand for ED services is a partial contributor to the crowding being experienced in EDs across Australia. There is a need for more detailed study, including qualitative analysis of patient motivations in order to identify the factors driving this growth in demand.© 2011 The Authors. EMA © 2011 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

11 keywords...

hide…