WA Emergency Access Target

In January 2016, WA Health established the WA Emergency Access Target (WEAT) to continue to drive local improvement in patient access to emergency services. This replaced the National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) following the expiry of the Commonwealth National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services in 2015.

The WEAT requires that 90 per cent of all patients presenting to a public hospital emergency department (ED) will be seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. 

Participating hospitals in Western Australia

Tertiary hospitals

Metropolitan general hospitals

Country hospitals

Providing the best care

WA Health is committed to building on the improvements gained from significant reform during the past six years.

The 2009 Four Hour Rule Program and the subsequent National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) have used clinical service redesign and improvement processes to significantly change the way our hospitals operate. This has resulted in improved patient care for Western Australians.

The WEAT will continue examining and improving processes across the entire patient journey, from the ED and the wards through to hospital discharge. 

WA Health will continue to build on this solid foundation in emergency access reform to provide the best possible care to our patients. 

More information

An overview of emergency departments and ED activity along with further information on the reporting and performance of EDs in Western Australian public hospitals is available:

• WA public hospital activity
• ED weekly activity
• WA Emergency Access Target Quarterly Reports 
• Annual Reports
• WA Health performance report
• WA Emergency Flow Report: September 2013 (PDF 2.71MB)
• WA Emergency Flow Report: May 2014 (PDF 3.23MB)