One Nation Upper House MLC Mark Latham questioned the government’s planning response to the future health needs of the 1.3 million people expected to live “west of the M7”.

However a Ministry of Health response, prepared for Minister Brad Hazzard, brushed aside calls for another public hospital, instead citing upgrades to current facilities as a remedy for future needs.

“Liverpool and Campbelltown Hospitals provide a comprehensive range of emergency and acute healthcare services,” the Ministry representative said. “Based on NSW Health planning projections, the substantial investment already committed to these facilities servicing the growth region will meet the growth in demand for hospital services from the local population to approximately 2036.

“NSW Health will continue to monitor population growth and other planning projections and will build additional health facilities if required.”

Liverpool Hospital, 25km from the Aerotropolis, is set to be transformed as part of a $790 million health and academic precinct by 2026.

The expansion is expected to include a new integrated cancer centre, an expanded emergency department, and enhanced neonatal intensive care, maternity and critical care hub.

Meanwhile, construction of $632 million stage two redevelopments of Campbelltown Hospital, which is 30km from the area, are underway.

However, Shadow Health spokesman Ryan Park said the government’s lack of planning for a new public hospital at the Aerotropolis was “disappointing”.

“We know from the South Western Sydney Health Inquiry that pressure on our hospitals in these growth regions continue to be enormous, “ he said. “Hospitals, despite upgrades, are at breaking point — so there is obvious need for a new public hospital in the city’s South West growth precinct.

“Reassessing this booming community’s needs in 2036 will be just too late, hundreds of thousands of people will already be requiring health services as the Aerotropolis grows.”

Meanwhile, Mr Latham said the government’s 14-year delay in planning for an additional hospital at the Aerotropolis was “pathetic”.

“It is appalling to think there will be no new hospital for the 1.3 million people that will be moving into this area — that population will continue to boom around the Aerotropolis as housing supply continues to grow,” he said.

“This is a city the size of Adelaide that is being built without a public hospital to service it.”

Mr Latham questioned why boom suburbs such as The Hills received funding for a greenfield hospital development, however, southwest Sydney did not.

THE GREAT DIVIDE — SYDNEY’S HEALTH CRISIS

Part One: south west patients funded $800 less per person than Sydney residents

Part Two: south west patients forced to travel hours for treatment

Part Three: leaders are calling for a new hospital at Aerotropolis

Part Four: 24,000 new medical students needed to fight west’s growth

Part Five: Patients waiting 300 days for surgery in south west Sydney

Part Six: south west teens shock youth suicide numbers as specialist staff numbers revealed

Part Seven: Claims health department removed beds from state’s busiest EDs

Part Eight: Where mini-metro hospitals will be built across Sydney

Part Nine: Kids enduring 18-month wait times for paediatric services

Part Ten: Hospital staff reveal hospital horror stories in calls for funding

Part Eleven: ‘Young doctors committing suicide over workloads’, inquiry hears

Part Twelve: NSW Government delisted land earmarked for hospital

Part Thirteen: NSW Health failed to assess hospital development projects

Part Fourteen: Liverpool, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital redevelopments: bid to fast track hospital openings

Part Fifteen: Blacktown Hospital baby deaths: more obstetricians committed, emergency theatre opens

Part Sixteen: South West Sydney Health inquiry: finds historic underfunding’, calls for Aerotropolis hospital

Part Seventeen: Minister Brad Hazzard supports improved services, staff levels

Part Eighteen: NSW Health criticised for failing to act one year after review

Bureau of Health Information statistics revealed 67.6 per cent of patients in the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District were treated on time in the last reporting period between July to September, 2021, while 81.1 per cent of patents in the South West Sydney LHD were treated on time.

Meanwhile 17.5 per cent of patients waited longer than 30 minutes to be transferred from an ambulance to the emergency department in the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD, and 13.9 per cent in the South West Sydney LHD.

More than 66,000 people presented to a SWSLHD hospital in the three month reporting period from July to September, 2021 — an increase of 2.1 per cent to the same period in 2020.

A South West Sydney clinician, who did not wish to be named, told NewsLocal the NSW Government needed to publish figures on the number of extra beds forecast for hospitals as the population increases.

“The number of beds from current expansion projects in the city’s southwest are very small,” the clinician said. “There are increased facilities for specialist services, around maternity and cancer, but there is not a significant change in bed numbers across the board — we have actually seen, from the Upper House inquiry that bed number sin some hospitals have been cut.

“There needs to be an assessment of bed numbers to population in Sydney’s west in comparison to the east.”

The clinician said hospitals such as Campbelltown and Liverpool were “at breaking point, so it is difficult to hear the government will wait until 2036 to reassess our community’s needs”.

The NSW Government’s response to the Current and future provision of health services in the South-West Sydney Growth Region inquiry supported a recommendation to secure land within the Aerotropolis precinct for a future health facility.

“An integrated primary and community care model has been identified as a future direction for

SWSLHD,” a Health Ministry representative said. “A proposed feature of this model is the Integrated Health Hub.

“An IHHub may include community health services, renal dialysis, chemotherapy chairs and cancer services, oral health, drug health, mental health and specialist outreach. Paediatric services will also be included in line with the anticipated increase in younger demographics.

“Several potential locations within South West Sydney are proposed for IHHubs.”

The government response revealed an Aerotropolis IHHub would not be required until after 2030.