New data reveals that New South Wales emergency rooms are overwhelmed, with record numbers of urgent patients leading to increased reliance on private hospitals for elective surgeries.

Hospital admissions in NSW reached a record high in the April to June 2025 quarter, with over 515,000 patient episodes, including nearly 65,000 elective surgeries—the highest since 2010, marking a 9.6% increase from the previous year.

There was a 109% rise in procedures contracted to private hospitals, with the government spending tens of millions of dollars to manage the backlog.

Health Minister Ryan Park announced efforts to ease hospital pressure through increased staffing, including nearly 3,000 new health workers, and the expansion of urgent and virtual care services.

The government has also increased staffing with 570 additional nurses and implemented patient ratios in some hospitals to improve conditions.

Despite a slight 1.3% decrease in emergency department attendances compared to the same quarter in 2024, record numbers of patients with serious conditions continue to strain hospitals.

Alarmingly, 1 in 10 patients in urban hospitals spend over 13 hours in emergency departments, which health officials consider unacceptable.

Waiting times for surgeries have improved somewhat, with the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended dropping from 8,588 to 2,534 in the last quarter.

However, the median wait time for non-urgent surgeries has increased to 343 days, and semi-urgent procedures now have a median wait of 62 days.

The report also highlights that more than 65% of emergency patients started treatment on time, with an average stay of 3 hours and 44 minutes.

While overall ER attendances slightly decreased, there was an increase in triage 2 and 3 patients, indicating more serious cases are presenting.

The Bureau of Health Information defended its reporting, stating that decreases in on-time surgeries were due to backlog issues, and emphasized transparency with detailed data and graphs.

Looking ahead, health officials warn that winter, with low vaccination rates and respiratory illnesses, could worsen hospital conditions.