Record number of patients leaving NSW hospitals without care
Kellie Sloane
Leader of the Opposition
Sarah Mitchell
Shadow Minister for Health
Shadow Minister for Regional Health
Shadow Minister for Mental Health
“Yet again, we have a system in crisis. And yet again, we are not seeing any tangible plans from the NSW Government.” - Australian Medical Association.
Today’s Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report for October to December 2025 shows patient treatment waiting (and waiting… and waiting) times have blown out in emergency departments across NSW.
A record number of patients walked out without starting or finishing treatment in an ED, almost 80,000 people - a rise of 16 percent in a year.
Alarmingly, almost 35 percent of those were in triage category 3 and in need of urgent care for potentially life-threatening conditions.
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said patients are experiencing more waiting and less care under the Minns Labor Government.
“When nearly 80,000 patients are walking out of hospital without care that shows something is going seriously wrong in our health system,” Ms Sloane said.
“Emergency departments are meant to save lives – not test how long people can wait.”
“Patients deserve a health system that works when they need it most and that is what the Liberals and Nationals will deliver.”
The percentage of T2 Emergency Patients (the sickest patients) being treated on time at Westmead and Nepean Hospitals is the lowest it has been since the pandemic.
A patient at Westmead is now spending an additional hour and a half in ED compared to when the Liberals and Nationals were in power.
Shadow Minister for Health and Regional Health Sarah Mitchell said the issue wasn’t just confined to Sydney, with patients spending 12 minutes longer in emergency departments across the state compared to this time last year.
“Increased wait times are leading to record numbers of patients walking out and giving up on getting care when they need it most,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“Three years in and the situation is getting worse, not better. Ryan Park can’t keep blaming everyone else while hospital performance collapses on his watch. NSW patients deserve better.”
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