Two years of labor: surgery waitlists blow out to Covid-era levels
Mark Speakman
Leader of the Opposition
Kellie Sloane
Shadow Minister for Health
Gurmesh Singh
Shadow Minister for Regional Health
After two years in office, the Minns Labor Government is sending the NSW health system backwards – with patients waiting longer, nurses picketing Parliament, hospital psychiatrists resigning and doctors threatening their first strike since 1984.
New data released today by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) confirms the system is under unprecedented strain with 802,697 ED attendances and 67,902 patients leaving without or before completing treatment in the December quarter, an increase of 6% compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Elective surgery waitlists have also blown out to near the COVID peak with 100,235 waiting for surgery - up 13.1% on the same quarter last year.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said Labor’s industrial chaos and two years in a row of real cuts to the health budget is having a real impact on patients.
“Chris Minns came to Government promising to cut elective surgery waiting lists, but has only managed to cut the health budget,” said Mr Speakman.
“The fact that elective surgery waiting lists have returned to levels we saw during the height of the pandemic, when elective surgeries were cancelled, demonstrates that Chris Minns and his Health Minister aren’t up to the job.”
Shadow Minster for Health Kellie Sloane said two years in, Labor’s mismanagement of our health system is failing patients and driving frontline staff to despair.
“From doctors threatening strike action to nurses picketing outside Parliament, the message is clear - the health workforce has lost confidence in this Government. And now patients are paying the price.”
“Chris Minns must take responsibility and deliver a real plan to fix the health system. We can’t afford more spin while people continue to wait in pain.”
Shadow Minister for Regional Health Gurmesh Singh said the Minns Government wasn’t prioritising health services in regional NSW.
“Chris Minns is busy fighting healthcare workers when he should be focused on delivering better health services for regional NSW,” said Mr Singh.
“The latest data shows that the time it takes for an ambulance to reach the highest priority P1A cases was continuing to go backwards, with only 52.4% arriving in 10 minutes in rural areas compared with 67% in urban areas.”
