For two decades, the demand for emergency department services in Australia has outpaced population growth and wait times have increased. In 2022-2023 more than 8.8 million emergency department presentations occurred nationwide.
While demand is a contributing factor, EDs are currently being impacted by various factors across the entire health system.
The Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) is a non-profit organisation funding innovative Australian research that improves the way people are cared for in a medical emergency. The aim of the research is to deliver better and more effective health services to save lives and money.
Professor Hugh Grantham, Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) Chair on the urgent challenges in emergency departments states, “The issue of system-wide delays from triage to admission to treatment and discharge is one of the Australian healthcare system’s most challenging problems and it severely impacts vulnerable patient groups, including aged care and mental health patients.”
In February 2024, the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) launched a $1.3 million fund for new research grants dedicated to addressing the pressing issues in emergency care to improve patient outcomes in Australia.
These projects will include innovative ways to improve pain management in children, treating diabetic patients, and optimising treatment for patients who call an ambulance for nausea or vomiting.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Dr Kim Hansen, Emergency Medicine Foundation Board Director, author & presenter of a broad range of topics including ED crowding, incident reporting, cognitive bias and gender equity.
Since launching in 2007, EMF has fostered significant growth in research and innovation in emergency, prehospital and retrieval medicine across Queensland. These EMF-funded research projects have proved both effective and wide-reaching, with a recent mental health study projected to save the Australian health system $30 million.
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Australian Healthcare Week 2019: Pitch Fest Finalist Lumin
Startup company Lumin was a Pitch Fest Finalist at last week’s Australian Healthcare Week Expo in Sydney. The Lumin platform is used in aged care where loneliness and isolation can be a trigger for stroke and dementia. Lumin helps the connection to care providers, family members and duress monitoring services in a device that has been designed for those with dementia, vision impairment or find complex devices difficult to use.
Managing Director and Co-Founder Paul Wilson spoke at the Mepacs booth with Anne Dao from Australian Health Journal about the market they target and the design of the user experience, including the remote servicing and monitoring. The integration allows the monitoring team in the call centre see and hear the personal raising the alarm. Mepacs is a provider of personal duress alarms and have teamed up with Lumin.
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Student nurse placements in primary health care
With an urgent need to manage increasing rates of chronic disease, an ageing population, and a rapidly-ageing primary health care nurse workforce, Australia desperately needs more primary health care nurses to enter the workforce before the current generation retires and cannot pass on its skills.
Most nurses start their career in a hospital. Historically, it was difficult for universities and tertiary education providers to arrange placements for student nurses in primary health care. However, the APNA Student Nurse Placement Program provides student nurses with a foot in the door to a career in vibrant primary health care settings such as general practice or community health to perform supervised activities.
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Expansion of specialist training in regional & rural areas
Associate Professor Sanjay Jeganathan, Chair of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC) states, ”Our rural and regional communities deserve the same access to specialist care as our cities. We’re seeing real results from our colleges’ commitment to rural training.”
