Waiting Times for Emergency Department Care: Time Spent in the Emergency Department
Identifying Attributes
Care Settings
Hospital Care
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Australian Health Performance Framework, New South Wales Bureau of Health Information (BHI)
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Wait Times and System Planning / Access
Defining Attributes
Definition
The median and 90th percentile length of emergency department stay, in minutes, in public hospital emergency departments.
Numerator
Number of minutes of emergency department stay at 50th and 90th percentile.
Denominator
This is a continuous variable.
Exclusions
Records are excluded for which: length of stay < 0, presentation date or time is missing, or physical departure date or time is missing.
Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
None
Stratifications
By triage category, state/territory, hospital and Local Health Network.
Collection and Reporting Attributes
Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods
Non-admitted patient emergency department care national minimum data set (NAPEDC NMDS)
Frequency of Data Collection
Annually
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
365
Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No
Source and Reference Attributes
Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025
Contents
Actions
Date Modified 02 December 2025