After two years in office, the Minns Labor Government is sending the NSW health system backwards – with patients waiting longer, nurses picketing Parliament, hospital psychiatrists resigning, and doctors threatening their first strike since 1984.
New data released today by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) confirms the system is under unprecedented strain with 802,697 Emergency Department attendances, and 67,902 patients leaving without or before completing treatment in the December quarter – an increase of 6% compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Elective surgery waitlists have also blown out to near the COVID peak with 100,235 waiting for surgery – up 13.1% on the same quarter last year.
Shadow Minister for Regional Health Gurmesh Singh said the Minns Government wasn’t prioritising health services in regional NSW.
“Chris Minns is busy fighting healthcare workers when he should be focused on delivering better health services for regional NSW,” said Mr Singh.
“The latest data shows that the time it takes for an ambulance to reach the highest priority P1A cases was continuing to go backwards, with only 52.4% arriving in 10 minutes in rural areas compared with 67% in urban areas.”
Key figures:
- 100,235 patients on the elective surgery waiting list at the end of December – up 13.1% from the same quarter a year earlier and close to the record peak during COVID-19 (100,883)
- 6,842 patients on the waiting list had waited longer than clinically recommended – up 220.8% compared with the end of December 2023.
- 196,617 patients arrived at ED by ambulance – the highest of any quarter since BHI began reporting in 2010.
- Emergency P1 ambulances responses within 15 minutes – only 44.3% arriving in the 15-minute benchmark.
- 67,902 patients left the ED without or before completing treatment – a 6% increase compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- In October to December 2024, the percentage of P1A ambulance responses within 10 minutes was 52.4% in rural areas.
