The clinical emergency indicator describes whether the radiotherapy treatment required for a patient is clinically assessed as an emergency. An emergency is defined as treatment required within 24 hours of being determined to be ready-for-care (in the opinion of the treating clinician). As reporting of waiting time in hours is not supported by the underlying data collection, and a patient receiving treatment on the following day may also have started treatment within 24 hours, the performance indicator reported is, therefore: The percentage of radiotherapy patients who are ready-for-care and whose treatment was clinically assessed as an emergency, as recorded by the clinical emergency indicator, whose radiotherapy treatment began: - on the same day as they were ready-for-care, or
- the day after they were ready-for-care.
The percentage of radiotherapy patients who began care on the same day or the day after they were ready-for-care will be reported as being treated within the emergency timeframe. The waiting time is calculated, in days, by subtracting the ready-for-care date from the radiotherapy start date. Analysis by State and Territory is for State or Territory of treatment facility. Analysis by remoteness and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) is based on usual residence of person. Presented as a percentage. |