NSW Health Minister Ryan Park says building hospitals not the way to solve emergency department crisis

His government has pumped $3bn into building and upgrading hospitals, but developing new facilities is not the way to solve the growing emergency department crisis in western Sydney, Ryan Park has claimed.

Health Minister Ryan Park, fourth from left, next to NSW Premier Chris Minns, at a major construction milestone for the $940m Royal Prince Alfred Hospital redevelopment. Picture: Monique Harmer

The Health Minister has told a throng of leaders the crisis gripping western Sydney hospitals’ emergency departments won’t be solved by building more facilities – despite vowing to deliver a new Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

Ryan Park prefers not to see his “name on plaques” for opening hospitals, but wants to boost support at aged care centres to take pressure off emergency departments so they are a last resort.

“When I was growing up … in my family you’d have to have a missing arm and a missing leg to go to the emergency department,’’ he said.

Mr Park addressed the Greater Western Sydney Future Health Forum at CommBank Stadium, Parramatta, where he acknowledged emergency departments presentations in western Sydney were rising.

Hospitals including Westmead have been plagued by overcrowding and a severe lack of staff to treat patients – some who were left in “excruciating pain” as they waited for a bed.

“They are significant and they are growing,’’ Mr Park said.

“There is no emergency department pressure greater than here in western Sydney.’’

The busy Westmead Hospital emergency department needs pressure taken off it, Ryan Park says.

Ryan Park says treating patients including those in aged care can avoid admissions to the ED. Picture: Monique Harmer

He said while bricks and mortar were important, he wanted to start by treating geriatrics in aged care centres.

“Right as we speak there is a hospital the size of Prince of Wales full of patients who are in geriatric care who should be in aged care or NDIS,’’ he said.

“You can’t run a hospital like that.

“We have to open alternate lifelines and pathways to alternate emergency departments.

“If we don’t do that we’re not going to build ourselves out of this.’’

He said there were too many patients presenting to emergency departments as “level four or fives” which meant their conditions were less urgent.

He said his government was trying to open 25 urgent care services across NSW.

Existing programs that aim to avoid unnecessary trips to the ED include InTouch Urgent Health Care Service for patients in 65 western Sydney aged care facilities and VirtualKIDS, which links families with a nurse via video to determine the best care for the child.

Mr Park said funding alternatives to EDs would be “supercharged” in the next budget.

But, while aged care leaders have supported taking pressure off emergency departments, they say more centres are needed.

Westmead Hospital while the refurbishment was under way in 2019. Picture: Jordan Shields

Uniting executive director Tracey Burton told the forum NSW had 44 fewer aged care beds compared with last year, and the last time she attended a sod-turning for a new facility was at Emu Plains in 2021 “because no one can afford to build aged care now’’.

Asked by Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue executive director Adam Leto about the $1.3bn Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital promised for a new site, Mr Park said it was a “personal priority” to keep it going and he hoped an announcement was imminent.

Mr Park said the “human capital” of retaining and recruiting staff was the biggest challenge.

“We have, over the last 10 to 15 years, had minimal wages growth for frontline workers,’’ he said.

“The staffing in our hospitals is by far and away what keeps me up at night.’’

Western Sydney Local Health District chief executive Graeme Loy said there were no permanent nurse vacancies and, out of 520 graduates, only 10 had quit this year.

He said the turnover rate was “usually higher”.

Originally published as NSW Health Minister Ryan Park says building hospitals not the way to solve emergency department crisis