Canberra continues to have the worst Emergency Department wait times in the country, more than double the national average despite presentations falling by 6.5 per cent.

The most recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare paints a damning picture for the ACT where the median emergency department wait time was 47 minutes, well above the national median of 20 and significantly higher than 14 minutes in NSW.

Shadow Minister for Health Leanne Castley said these figures are simply unacceptable and this is the fifth year in a row that Canberra has recorded the worst ED wait times in the country.

“Each year the Labor-Greens government tells Canberrans that they are implementing new models and reviewing their practices, yet they continue to languish at the bottom of the list for ED performance in the country,” Ms Castley said.

“Public hospitals are meant to provide reliable assistance to patients who require urgent and specialised care for themselves or loved ones and the Labor-Greens has not been able to deliver this for the community since 2017-18.

“What is concerning is that the latest quarterly report showed that more than 3,300 Canberrans were leaving ED without being seen because of excessive wait times.

“We know that the Labor-Greens government have reduced beds in 2015-16 by 150 against their own demand forecast in 2011. The government has continued to underfund infrastructure, staff and resources in our hospitals and unfortunately the AIHW report shows that these decisions have made us the worst in the country.

“This Labor-Greens government has ripped money away from the health system over a number of years to pay for the tram and this is the result of not prioritising our health system,” Ms Castley concluded.