“In Australia, an occupancy rate of more than 85 per cent is classified as a ‘danger’ zone, with research from the UK finding that such rates are associated with problems dealing with both emergency and elective admission, and the UK has a target occupancy rate of 82 per cent,” Dr Morton said.
A survey undertaken for AMA (NSW) found that more than half of the 1500 doctors and nurses surveyed have seriously considered leaving the NSW public health system in the past 12 months.

“Doctors and nurses are working in appalling conditions; they are feeling under-valued, overworked and exhausted,” Dr Morton said.
 
“Also, recent advertising campaigns suggest that EDs are inundated with patients who could be seen by their GPs, yet the data on triage 4 and 5 patients show that they are seen well above the benchmark time, contradicting the advertising message. What is the rationale for such a campaign?

“A 4.5 per cent increase in the number of attendances in NSW emergency departments is also a concern, and without an increase of beds and staff the quality of patient care will suffer. Doctors and nurses in NSW deserve more than skewed figures which show only one part of the public hospital system that can reflect well on the state government.” Dr Morton said.