Patients are waiting longer to start treatment in NSW Emergency Departments since same period last year, according to the new report released by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI). 

The report found that in the October to December 2018 quarter, patients were expected to wait longer median and 90th percentile time to start emergency, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent treatment. 

90th percentile time, which is the time by which 90 percent of patients start treatment, were extended by three to seven minutes for different emergencies. 

Median time, which is the time half of patients start treatment, were also extended by one to two minutes. 

For triage 2 ‘emergency’, which includes emergencies such as chest pain and severe burns, the 90th percentile time to start treatment increased by three minutes to 26 minutes. 

This meant that almost one in three T2 patients were not being treated within the clinically recommended 10-minute window. 

For urgent treatment such as moderate blood loss and dehydration, median time increased by one minute to 20 minutes and the 90th percentile time increased by seven minutes to 72 minutes. 

Waiting time for semi-urgent and non-urgent treatment were also extended by one to six minutes. 

The median time was 26 minutes and 90th percentile time was 104 minutes for semi-urgent emergencies, and 23 minutes and 104 minutes for non-urgent emergencies. 

In addition, the report found that the time for patients arriving by ambulance was also longer, with one minute added to the median time, and three minutes added to the 90th percentile time.