VMO Industrial Campaign Update
August 23, 2024
Statement from Dr Fred Betros, acting President AMA (NSW)
September 24, 2024
Today’s NSW Bureau of Health Information quarterly report on public hospital and ambulance activity highlights the ever-increasing demands on an over-stretched health workforce and an urgent need for more funding to meet those demands.
Presentations to emergency departments across NSW reached 795,917 between April and June this year – a 3.3 per cent increase on the same quarter last year, while calls to NSW Ambulance and responses were higher than any quarter since the BHI began reporting in 2010.
“The latest BHI report shows what we already know – there is increased demand yet again on our hospital workforce,” AMA (NSW) president Dr Kathryn Austin said today.
“Over the three months from April to June this year, our emergency departments experienced an extra 2100 presentations every week compared to the same quarter last year. And that was before the winter peak hit.
“Our doctors, nurses and allied health staff continue to rise to the challenge, but how long can this continue before they break?”
Dr Austin said while it was pleasing to see that elective surgery waiting lists reduced during April to June on the same quarter last year, it was important to note this was due to private hospitals being contracted to take on almost 2000 surgeries for the public system.”
“Public and private hospitals have always worked together to ensure the community is well cared for, but this is not an appropriate or economically sound long-term solution.”
Dr Austin said it was also concerning that more than 69,000 people left an emergency department before treatment began or was completed between April and June – a staggering increase of 13.3 per cent on the same quarter a year earlier.
“This is a sad by-product of an exhausted system,” she said. “We are calling on the NSW Government to urgently increase funding to support doctors, nurses and allied health workers and ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.’’
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