Queensland emergency departments hit 10-year low, report shows

The percentage of Queenslanders seen within the recommended four-hour timeframe after presenting to emergency has hit a 10-year low, a new report on public hospital performance has found.

The Australian Medical Association’s 2026 Public Hospital Report Card, released on Thursday, measured the performance of hospitals across each state and territory.

While Queensland showed some improvements over the 2024–25 reporting period, including an uptick in the proportion of Category 2 patients awaiting surgery being seen on time, performance worsened in other areas including emergency departments.

Data showed the percentage of Queenslanders completing their emergency department visits within four hours or less has fallen for the second consecutive year, with only half of patients being either discharged or admitted to hospital within the recommended window.

The figure marks a 10-year low for the state.

AMA federal president Dr Danielle McMullen said this was not the fault of emergency staff but representative of a strain on health systems felt across the nation.

“They’re working as fast as they can, but with unprecedented demand, they’re not able to see these patients as quickly as they would like,” McMullen said.

“That has a flow on effect to patients coming in the front door.”

In contrast, the percentage of Category 3 emergency patients seen within the recommended timeframe of 30 minutes rose in Queensland to 67 per cent – close to the best in the country.

On Queensland’s public hospital expenditure, AMA’s report found most funding (54 per cent) came from the state government, with an average spend of $1630 per person representing the lowest figure nationally.

Queensland’s funding has grown at almost twice the average annual rate – at 4.1 per cent compared with 2.1 per cent, with funds secured through the five-year National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) deal expected to help meet demand for public services wrought by an ageing and growing population.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the report validated the government’s $1.75 billion investment into health but continued to call for more federal funding to address elderly stranded patients in Queensland hospitals.

“We have more than 1000 [elderly patients] who are in hospital beds and who need to be in aged care,” Nicholls said.

“We have projects that are ready to go, we have ideas about funding that could release more aged care beds that would help address the issues … [but] conversations [with the Commonwealth] haven’t been as fulfilling as we’d like them to be.”

McMullen said the results reinforced the AMA’s resolve “for increased hospital capacity, supported by sustainable funding and a strong workforce”.

“Additional beds must be matched with sufficient doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals,” she said.

“Workforce shortages are a major constraint, especially in rural and regional Queensland, where more than half the population live.”

The Crisafulli government has pledged 46,000 additional healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, by 2032, but is yet to say how it will achieve such figures.

Nicholls said the government was on track to release a detailed workforce strategy by mid-2026.

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