Western Sydney’s hospitals suffering a waiting nightmare
They are the hospitals to avoid in an emergency — those deemed the worst in the state and failing to meet critical benchmarks for life-threatening conditions in emergency rooms. INTERACTIVE: HOW YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL RATES
Waiting times in Western Sydney have blown out as hospitals are unable to cope with an unprecedented population surge and record migration.
Liverpool and Nepean hospitals are ranked last of all the major hospitals in NSW, while Westmead and Nepean failed to meet the critical 10 minute benchmark for life-threatening conditions in their emergency departments, according to figures from the NSW Bureau of Health Information.
Doctors are warning that unless drastic changes are made to not just planning but society’s attitude to health, the system will be “overwhelmed”.
Campbelltown paediatrician Dr Andrew McDonald said the area was growing so fast, the medical system could not keep up.
“We are doing baby checks on newborns from suburbs we’ve never heard of like Spring Farm, Bridgewater and Edmondson Park — and we live here,” he said.
“It will take another 20 years of graduating doctors to even touch the workforce shortage.”
AMA NSW President Dr Kean-Seng Lim said it was not just the numbers of new residents but their bigger medical needs that were causing the issue.
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The most common presentation at Western Sydney hospitals was heart disease-related issues.
“Population growth is one thing but the rate of use of hospital services is outstripping population growth,” Dr Lim said.
“The population in these parts of Sydney are sicker and with higher rates of obesity and diabetes — and lifestyle is the biggest factor.
“Throwing more money at hospitals is like putting an extra lane on the M4. It won’t work in the long run.
“If we continue on our same track we will be overwhelmed.”
Liverpool, Westmead and Nepean are all in high population growth areas, while Greater Western Sydney is home to 2.2 million people — 35 per cent of whom were born overseas.
Liverpool hospital had 88,428 emergency department presentations in 2018, a 16.4 per cent increase over five years.
Nepean had 72,189 patients attend the ED in 2018, an increase of 13.7 per cent.
Westmead had 77,247 ED presentations in 2018, an increase of 15.3 per cent.
At Westmead, in the emergency triage 2 category of imminent life-threatening conditions (includes serious chest pain, severe burns, and breathing problems) one in 10 patients waited over 80 minutes, eight times the benchmark of 10 minutes. The average wait time was 16 minutes. Westmead performed the worst in the state.
Nepean followed with one in 10 waiting over 54 minutes for treatment — more than five times the recommended 10-minute target. The median time was 14 minutes for emergency cases.
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead also failed the 10 minute benchmark with imminently life-threatening cases seen to by 12 minutes on average.
When Nicole Everett’s 16-month-old son Christian’s temperature spiked on December 29 last year and it did not come down with Panadol, she was naturally worried it was something serious.
The Western Sydney mum took him to the Children’s Hospital Westmead at 8.30pm that Saturday where she was told she was 11th in line.
“He wasn’t taking liquids either so I was panicking but the nurse told me his temperature was only a number,” the 33-year-old mum of two said.
“By 3.30am I was so frustrated, he couldn’t sleep, it was noisy and he was uncomfortable and they advised me that we were still number seven. There would have been over 40 people there and they told me there was only one doctor on.”
After eight hours, Mrs Everett left in disgust and took her son home to sleep and then to a doctor the following day but she wondered what would have happened if he did have meningococcal or meningitis.
“They just need more doctors on. I didn’t know what was going on with him, he was refusing water and he had a heat rash. It could have been worse,” she said.
Dr McDonald said there was still an “east west divide” that was driving doctors out of Western Sydney.
“All hospitals in Western Sydney are understaffed and ask any fourth year medical student where they want to be interns and it will be in the east, as the Western Sydney workload scares them off,” he said.
“It’s soul-destroying not to meet the benchmarks but the main reason is bed block.”
Last October, Darryl Pears was told to go the Nepean emergency department by his doctor because he had fluid on the lungs and needed intravenous antibiotics.
His wife Teena posted on Nepean Hospital’s Facebook site her frustration after 14 hours in the waiting room.
“He sat in the waiting room for 14 hours and had his obs done once,” she wrote.
“Disgusting!! Shame on you Nepean hospital. Below is a pic of my hubby laying on chairs in the waiting room after 12 hours and we are in a health fund,” she wrote.
Mrs Pears told the Sunday Telegraph her complaint when nowhere.
St Vincent’s Hospital performed the best in the state with triage 2 emergency cases seen within three minutes on average and nine out of 10 seen within 13 minutes.
Royal North Shore, Concord, Prince of Wales and St George Hospitals all recorded average wait times for the emergency triage 2 category under or at the 10 minute benchmark.
Associate Professor Awais Piracha, an urban planning expert from Western Sydney University said the west was the fastest growing area in the state.
“Most people buying in the south west and western suburbs are immigrants who first land in Parramatta and after a while want a house instead of an apartment,” Prof Piracha said.
The state government has committed $8 billion in health infrastructure spending with almost half ($3.8b) earmarked for Greater Western Sydney, including $740m for Liverpool (completion date 2026) and $25m for Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital Emergency Department (completed 2020).
Continued funding includes $765m for Stage 1 of the Westmead Hospital Redevelopment; $632m for the Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospital Redevelopment; $632m for Stage 2 of the Campbelltown Hospital Redevelopment; $550m for Stage 1 of the Nepean Hospital Redevelopment and $95m to Stage 1 of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Redevelopment. 5000 new nurses have also been promised.
Dr Lim said the current stoush over funding of cardiac services between the Sydney Children’s Hospital and the Children’s hospital at Westmead needed an independent review of paediatric services and where money was spent.
“We need to find the best balance between availability throughout the state, so kids can be treated close to home when possible, and creating top flight centres of paediatric care, for the times when they can’t,” Dr Lim said.
All major regional hospitals met the triage 2 requirement under the 10 minute benchmark except for Shoalhaven District Hospital which was just over with an average time of 11 minutes.
Tweed Heads in the state’s far north performed the best with an average time of seven minutes.
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