NSW public hospitals hit highest admissions on record amid warnings of buried data

NSW public hospitals are grappling with record demand, with more than 515,000 admitted patient episodes logged between April and June 2025 – the highest quarterly figure to date, according to the Bureau of Health Information’s (BHI) latest Healthcare Quarterly report.

Elective surgery also surged, with nearly 65,000 procedures completed across the state – the most in any quarter since 2010. Of those, 4,033 were contracted out to private hospitals, more than double the number from the same time last year.

Yet behind the record numbers, questions are being raised about whether the system is coping. Australian Medical Association NSW President Kathryn Austin criticised the way results were presented.

She pointed to plummeting performance in elective surgery wait times, noting that only 66.1% of non-urgent procedures – meant to be completed within 12 months – were delivered on time, down from 82.4% in the same quarter of 2024. Semi-urgent surgeries followed the same downward trend, with 76.1% completed within the 90-day timeframe, compared to 84.6% a year earlier.

“Information on this is usually presented as part of key findings but has been buried further down in the latest report. The Bureau of Health Information is supposed to be an independent body providing the community with a clear picture of how our health system is performing,” Dr Austin said.

“Hiding these results does not make the problem go away; it only undermines confidence in the system and makes it harder to drive necessary change. The reality is stark: without more doctors in our hospitals, waiting lists will keep growing and patients will keep suffering.”

Emergency departments also bore the strain. There were 785,084 attendances statewide, a slight 1.3% dip from the same quarter in 2024. However, BHI Acting Chief Executive Hilary Rowell noted the fall came from fewer less-urgent cases, while the volume of patients with serious conditions hit record highs.

One in ten patients in urban hospitals spent longer than 13 hours and 6 minutes in emergency departments – a statistic the AMA NSW labelled unacceptable.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park acknowledged the challenges but argued reforms are starting to ease pressure.

“We’re investing in more staff, more hospitals and more beds, more quickly, and we’re seeing lower wait times and less ramping,” he said. “While lower ED wait times and ramping are promising, there is still more to be done.”

Minister Park credited improvements to the recruitment of nearly 3,000 full-time health workers over the past year, stabilising retention rates back to pre-pandemic levels, and increased uptake of urgent and virtual care services.

Ambulance transfer times also improved, with nearly 80% of patients handed over to emergency staff within 30 minutes – a 5.6 percentage point lift compared to the same time last year.

Dr Austin added, “The introduction of new Hospital Access Targets is a step in the right direction, but the results are deeply concerning. Only 33.1% of patients admitted or transferred left the ED within six hours, well short of the 80% target. Targets mean little without more hospital doctors to deliver the care patients need.”

The report also highlighted the continued expansion of Hospital in the Home across NSW.

“The report shows use of Hospital in the Home continued to grow over the past year, and indicates potential for further uptake,” said Rowell.

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