NSW Health performed more elective surgeries last quarter than ever before. But patients are also waiting longer than ever. The BHI buried the news.
NSW Health ramped up elective surgeries between April and June 2025, performing more operations than in any quarter since 2010. Yet patients needing non-urgent surgery faced record delays — a median wait of 343 days, up 42 days on last year.
The Bureau of Health Information’s latest Healthcare Quarterly shows:
- 76.8% of all surgeries were completed on time, down 10 percentage points on a year ago;
- Only 66.1% of non-urgent surgeries were done within the recommended 365 days, down sharply from 82.4% last year.
AMA (NSW) president Dr Kathryn Austin accused the BHI of “burying” the bad news.
“Today’s Bureau of Health Information’s Healthcare Quarterly report indicates NSW is going backwards in regard to elective surgery and – for the first time in recent years – critical data showcasing the decline is being displayed ambiguously,” Dr Austin said.
“Information on this is usually presented as part of key findings but has been buried further down in the latest report. The Bureau of Health Information is supposed to be an independent body providing the community with a clear picture of how our health system is performing.
“Hiding these results does not make the problem go away; it only undermines confidence in the system and makes it harder to drive necessary change.
“The reality is stark: without more doctors in our hospitals, waiting lists will keep growing and patients will keep suffering,” Dr Austin said.
Private hospitals picking up the slack
To help meet demand, 4033 elective surgeries were contracted to private hospitals which is more than double the number from a year earlier.
Private hospitals work in partnership with the public health system to provide additional capacity when demand is high.
According to a spokesperson from the Australian Private Hospitals Association, this latest data shows the contribution private hospitals make to ensure timely access to surgery.
“In these cases, public patients may be treated in private hospitals under specific arrangements, helping to relieve pressure on the public system and ensuring timely access to surgery.
“The March 2025 quarterly data showed that although elective surgeries in public hospitals rose by 3.6%, the number of patients on the waiting list also increased (up 7.3%, to 100,678), and those waiting longer than clinically recommended rose by a dramatic 151%.
“So, while private sector support is undoubtedly part of the solution, it must be accompanied by sustained investment, workforce capacity, and long-term structural reform to truly bring waiting times down in a sustained way,” they said.
By the end of the quarter, there were 93,712 people on the waiting list for surgery, a drop from over 100,000 the previous quarter. The number of patients who had waited longer than clinically recommended for their surgery dropped to 2534, was down from 8588 at the end of March 2025.
Local bright spots
One LHD that has been working hard to increase its planned surgery is Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD).
Chief executive Jill Wong said they have done a record 3506 surgeries across the quarter, an increase of 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Their waiting list is now at 4915, down 14.7% on the same time last year.
“While we acknowledge that there’s always more work to do, it’s pleasing to see more patients receive their planned surgery and significant reductions in the numbers of patients overdue for their surgery,” Ms Wong said.
“It’s a testament to the dedication of our staff who have been working on strategies to improve access for people waiting for surgery.
“These strategies include proactive waitlist review and management, more efficient use of our operating theatres, same day surgery programs, initiatives to improve mobilisation and earlier recovery after surgery, and collaboration with our health partners including private hospitals,” she said.
Emergency departments: mixed results
Emergency departments saw 785,084 attendances, down slightly on last year.
There was a slight increase in the number of people arriving by ambulance but despite this,79.3% of patients were transferred to ED staff within 30 minutes, up 5.6 percentage points compared with last year.
Triage 4 and 5 presentations were down compared to the same quarter last year, with triage 5 at the lowest level since reporting began. However, presentations of Triage 2 and Triage 3 both saw record highs.
“Fewer patients with less urgent conditions presented to EDs, however, there were record numbers of patients presenting with more serious conditions,” said BHI acting CEO Hilary Rowell.
Of those patients, more started their treatment on time compared to the same quarter last year, up 2 percentage points to 65.7% of all patients.
It wasn’t good news for all.
Only 61.5% of people in urban hospitals, 39.6% of patients at Blacktown Hospital and 41.4% of patients at Westmead Hospital had their treatment start on time.
On the other end of the scale, 83.3% of people at Auburn Hospital and 79.7% of people at Hornsby Hospital started their treatment on time.
This quarter also includes the new hospital access targets for LHDs for time from arrival to leaving.
The targets are:
- all patients – at least 95% of patients leave within 12 hours;
- discharged – at least 80% of patients leave within four hours;
- treated and admitted to an ED Short Stay Unit – at least 60% of patients leave within four hours;
- treated and admitted to hospital or transferred to another hospital – at least 80% of patients leave within six hours.
None of these targets were met in the April-June quarter.
“The introduction of new hospital access targets is a step in the right direction, but the results are deeply concerning,” Dr Austin said.
“Only 33.1% of patients admitted or transferred left the ED within six hours, well short of the 80% target. Targets mean little without more hospital doctors to deliver the care patients need,” she continued.
One in 10 patients in urban hospitals spent longer than 13 hours and six minutes in the ED and one in 10 patients in rural hospitals spent longer than nine hours and 10 minutes.
“That is unacceptable. We need more doctors in our hospitals if we are going to meet demand and reduce waiting times,” Dr Austin said.
According to minister for health Ryan Park, the improved ED wait times and reduced ramping coincides with an additional 3000 FTE workers being added over the past year as health worker retention rates return to pre-pandemic levels.
It also coincides with 222,000 patients being diverted away from EDs thanks to Healthdirect and urgent and virtual care services.
“While lower ED wait times and ramping are promising, there is still more to be done,” he said.
More patients admitted for care
The April-June 2025 quarter saw the highest number of admitted patient episodes since BHI reporting began. There were 515,245 admitted patient episodes and of these, 242,284 were same-day episodes, up 5.9% and another record high.
“The average length of stay for non-acute overnight episodes rose to 18.4 days, showing the ongoing challenges in patient flow and discharge planning.
“The NSW government must act now to invest in our doctors and hospitals,” Dr Austin concluded.
