NSW LABOR MUST FIX BROKEN HEALTH SYSTEM

Member for Kiama Gareth Ward is calling on the NSW Labor Government and the NSW Minister for Health to urgently address elective surgery waiting times and improve health outcomes for local patients across the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD).

“I am also backing the AMA’s calls for urgent action following the release of the NSW Bureau of Health Information quarterly report on public hospital and ambulance activity highlights ‘a system struggling to cope’,” Mr Ward said.

“Ambulance incidents and responses reached record highs and response times increased compared with a year earlier.

“Emergency department attendances increased and patients continued to wait longer in the ED. Admitted patient activity increased and patients continued to spend longer in hospital than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic which is concerning for our seniors in this region.

“As the AMA said in its own media release dated 10th December 2024:

“…Playing the blame game with the Federal Government over general practitioners is also wearing thin. We need urgent investment in general practice…”

“…The health workforce cannot continue to do more with less…Patients deserve better and so do our hardworking health staff”.

“One in 10 patients spent longer than 11 hours 29 in an ED. 67,737 patients left the ED without, or before completing, treatment – up 9.8% (6,027) compared with the same quarter a year earlier,” Mr Ward said.

“With respect to elected surgeries – there were 98,608 patients on the waiting list at the end of September 2024 – up 7.7% (7,083) from the same quarter the previous year.

“Out of 495 staff specialist psychiatrist positions in NSW, only about 260 of them are currently filled, with the gaps being plugged by locums in a costly exercise for NSW taxpayers at around $3,000 a shift. Both Victoria and Queensland offer packages of around 30 per cent higher than what NSW offers to staff psychiatrists.

“These trends are deeply concerning but we can’t expect too much from a Minister that can’t even deliver a helipad at a hospital under construction in his own backyard,” Mr Ward concluded.