Overview
- NSW recorded 515,245 admitted-patient episodes and 64,751 elective surgeries in April–June 2025, the highest quarterly volumes on record, as overdue surgery waitlist numbers fell to 2,534 from 8,588 in March.
- Ambulance handovers within 30 minutes rose to nearly 80% (up 5.6 percentage points year on year) and on‑time treatment for very sick T2 patients increased to 37.5%, with notable gains at Westmead, Blacktown and Cumberland.
- Access block remained severe: only 33.1% of ED patients were admitted or transferred within six hours against an 80% target, one in ten urban patients waited over 13 hours, and the 90th percentile reached 20 hours at Westmead and 19 hours 30 minutes at Blacktown.
- Pressure shifted to planned care, with the median wait for non‑urgent surgery hitting a record 343 days and only 66.1% of non‑urgent operations performed on time, down from 82.4% a year earlier.
- The government cites a $500m package, nearly 3,000 new FTE roles including about 500 ED nurses, 222,000 ED diversions via Healthdirect and urgent care, and expanded private‑hospital contracting, while clinicians accuse officials of downplaying poor results and the BHI defends its presentation.