The number of overdue patients for elective surgeries in Canberra's public health system markedly increased due to an Omicron shutdown while emergency department wait times remained steady.
Just over half of all patients who presented at Canberra's emergency departments were seen on time, the latest figures have shown.
Meanwhile, only half of those who needed semi-urgent elective surgeries in Canberra's public health system received this in the clinically recommended timeframe.
The latest ACT Health quarterly performance report is the first to reflect the impact of the Omicron COVID variant on the health system. The report spans the first three months of 2022.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the health system was "significantly impacted" over the quarter as the system faced workforce shortages and some elective surgeries were brought to a halt.
During this time, non-urgent elective surgeries were stopped at the Calvary Public Hospital Bruce and this left more patients overdue for their surgeries.
There were 1299 patients who were overdue for their elective surgery over the quarter, up 17 per cent from the previous quarter when there were 1110 overdue patients.
Only 50.8 per cent of patients who needed semi-urgent elective surgery received this within the clinically recommended timeframe, which was down from 56.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
There was no improvement to emergency department waiting times over the quarter.
Only half the patients who presented to the Canberra Hospital over the quarter were seen on time and only 36.1 per cent of urgent patients started treatment on time.
At Calvary Public Hospital, 54.3 per cent of emergency department patients were seen on time, however only 43.7 per cent of urgent or triage category three patients were seen on time.
There were 34,986 presentations to the emergency departments at Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital over the quarter.
Ms Stephen-Smith said emergency department performance was not expected to pick up.
"Emergency department presentations remained relatively stable, however the increasing pressure of COVID-19 across the healthcare system and related workforce absences saw a slight decrease in performance," she said.
"This trend, seen across Australia's public hospital system, will continue in the next quarterly performance report and is also reflected in the budget papers. Across the ACT Health system, we will continue to work on innovative solutions and strategies to improve performance and support our workforce."
Canberra's walk-in centres also experienced increased demand with wait times more than doubling over the quarter.
The median wait time at Belconnen increased from seven minutes to 21 minutes. At the Inner North centre, which was closed in January, wait times increased from seven minutes to 17 minutes. At Weston Creek the waiting time increased from four minutes to eight minutes.
The number of COVID-19 PCR tests dropped over the quarter with 99,590 tests taken at Canberra Health Services testing clinics, down from 158,594 in the previous quarter. This was largely due to the increased availability of rapid antigen tests.
Ms Stephen said while the system faced great challenges patient feedback still remained high.
"Despite these incredible pressures and challenges, our public health services continued to receive positive feedback with nearly 9 in 10 patients recommending Canberra Health Services to family and friends and 94 per cent of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce patients reporting a positive experience," she said.
"These results reflect the professionalism, compassion and dedication of our healthcare workforce."
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