NSW does not have enough hospital beds to deal with an increasing number of elderly and seriously unwell patients, doctors have warned, after a record number of people left the state’s emergency departments before they could be properly treated.
Doctor groups pleaded with the federal government to strike a fair funding deal with the states and territories after the NSW government released data on Wednesday showing a 50 per cent increase in disability and aged care recipients stranded in public hospital beds.
The median time from arrival to leaving NSW emergency departments was 3 hours and 54 minutes, the highest since 2010.Credit: Getty Images
“There is a mismatch between the number of beds we have in NSW and what the community needs,” said Dr Rachael Gill, the NSW branch chair for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
Gill said the bottleneck caused by patients not being discharged from hospital beds was leading to more pressure on emergency staff and worse outcomes for patients.
“We have increasingly sick people coming in the front door and, at the back end, we’ve got patients not being able to return home to a more appropriate care environment,” she said. “When you have sick people who rightfully should be in an inpatient unit remaining in the ED, we can’t bring the next patient through … that leads to delays and a lot of discomfort and frustration for patients.”
There were 1151 aged care residents and NDIS recipients in NSW hospitals at the end of September who had exceeded their estimated date of discharge, a 54 per cent increase in 12 months. Westmead was the Sydney hospital with the most beds occupied (60), followed by Concord (45), Liverpool and Campbelltown (42 each).
Separate data released by the Bureau of Health Information on Wednesday showed more than 73,000 patients left NSW emergency departments between July and September without (or before) completing treatment, the most of any winter quarter on record.
Patients spent longer in NSW emergency departments than at any point since 2010, with the median time jumping to 3 hours and 54 minutes.
The longest waits were at Westmead Hospital, where the median time spent in ED was seven hours and 11 minutes – 44 minutes longer than the same quarter last year. Only one in four patients requiring emergency treatment within 10 minutes started their treatment on time, the worst record of any Sydney hospital.
Statewide, there were record presentations in all three life-threatening triage categories – resuscitation, emergency, and urgent. Despite the increased demand, 52 per cent of category 2 emergency patients received treatment within 10 minutes – up from 49 per cent 12 months before.
Gill said a record low number of patients visited emergency with non-urgent injuries and illnesses, suggesting investments in urgent care clinics were diverting people from hospital, but these were not an option for the majority of emergency cases.
“Urgent care centres don’t meet the community needs when it comes to really sick people, and this is the area that we’d like to see more investment,” she said.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said NSW had 500 more hospital beds now than in 2019, and would soon have 600 additional hospital beds in south-western and western Sydney, but warned this investment would be in vain if rates of bed block continued to increase.
“This is simply not sustainable,” he said.
Park’s federal counterpart, Mark Butler, said his government was committed to a deal that would fund more beds, ease ramping, and clear surgical waiting lists.
Butler will next meet state and territory health ministers on Friday, although he has previously cast doubt on an imminent deal.
“Whether we can get this done by the end of the year is still a bit uncertain,” he said last week.
Dr Fred Betros, vice-president of the Australian Medical Association NSW, said a deal must come soon and include sustained funding to tackle chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
“Every day of delay means more pain, more complications, and more strain on a system that is already at breaking point,” he said.
Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said the government’s refusal to allow an inquiry into western Sydney health was unjustifiable in light of the deteriorating performance of Westmead.
“It is time for transparency and a process to identify the pressures faced by staff and barriers to performance,” she said.
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