Australia’s emergency departments are struggling to meet the growing healthcare needs of older people, with a new report calling for urgent reforms to the country’s health services.
The report, released on Tuesday by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM), said nearly nine million people sought treatment at emergency departments nationwide in 2023-2024, with those aged 65 and above accounting for one-quarter of patients.
It stated that more than half of the older patients arrived by ambulance, while nearly 70 percent required urgent care. About half were admitted to hospital beds, compared with less than a quarter of younger patients.
According to the report, 53,510 older patients spent more than 24 hours in emergency departments awaiting hospital beds in 2023-2024, representing a 254 percent increase from the 15,084 recorded in 2018-2019.
It added that only 54 percent of older patients requiring hospital admission left emergency departments within the eight-hour target. The findings come amid projections of a significant increase in Australia’s aging population.
An intergenerational report released by the federal Treasury in September projected that the proportion of Australians aged 65 and above would rise from 17.8 percent to 24.8 percent by 2066.
The ACEM report also projected that emergency department visits by people aged 85 and above would increase by 411 percent by 2050.
“Our health system and its workforce are just not equipped for this demographic change,” ACEM President Peter Allely said in a media release.
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“Unless these serious issues are addressed as a matter of urgency, emergency care will come too late for many Australians.”
The report recommended a range of measures for federal, state and territory governments to address the challenges.
These include strengthening coordination between hospitals and aged care services, increasing funding and rapidly expanding residential aged care facilities.
