Figures from the Bureau of Health Information show fewer people are attending north coast hospital emergency departments yet they are waiting longer to be seen.
And fewer than the 80 per cent benchmark of people with life-threatening emergencies are being seen within 10 minutes.
Northern NSW Health District CEO Chris Crawford says some changes have already been implemented.
‘We haven’t treated as many [patients with life-threatening emergencies] in the set time as we would like to have, and that is something we are particularly working on,’ he told ABC radio this morning.
‘We set ourselves the goal of treating 80 per cent within 10 minutes and we’ve got to do better to meet that target,’ he admitted.
Mr Crawford also said more people are being treated in their homes under a new Hospital in the Home program.
