The annual number of deaths attributable to access block and emergency department overcrowding in hospitals is similar to the number who die on the nation's roads.

One of the articles on this subject in the current Medical Journal of Australia describes the problem as 'a blight on our hospitals and the community'. Professor of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Western Australia, Daniel Fatovich, said research had shown an annual 20 to 30 percent excess mortality rate because of access block and emergency department overcrowding.

"This equates to at least 80 deaths per million population, a figure that is similar to the road toll," Professor Fatovich said.

Access block refers to the inability to admit emergency patients to a ward in a timely fashion, and Professor Fatovich said Australia is at the forefront of research into the problem…