Hospital emergency waiting times over four hours for 39% of patients

Gosford Hospital

Thirty nine per cent of patients who presented to Gosford Hospital’s emergency department waited more than four hours to be seen or attended to according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Health Information.

The bureau’s latest Activity and Performance in NSW Public Hospitals: July to September 2015 shows that Gosford hospital’s waiting times compared to 31 per cent of patients at Wyong Hospital’s emergency department waiting more than four hours to be seen or attended to. Nepean and Westmead, with the longest emergencydepartment waiting times, both recorded 52 per cent. Goulburn and Ryde, with the shortest waiting times, both recorded 23 per cent.

According to the offi ce of the NSW shadow minister for health, Mr Walt Secord, 30 per cent of patients statewide waited longer than four hours in emergency departments. “Sadly these are not just numbers, they have a human face,’ Mr Secord said. “They are thousands of mothers, fathers, children and grandparents who rely on the health and hospital system,” he said. “This is the human cost of the Baird Government’s $3 billion in health and hospital cuts.”

Media release, <B Walt Secord, NSW shadow health minister