At the end of March 2025, there were 100,678 patients on the waiting list for elective surgery in NSW public hospitals – an increase of 7.3% compared to the same time last year, and just 346 patients shy of the peak 101,024 recorded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021.
New data from the Bureau of Health Information also shows patients seeking non-urgent surgery are waiting a median of 322 days – nearly a year – for their operation, more than a month (32 days) longer than they waited a year earlier.
There were 19,499 patients waiting for semi-urgent surgery, a 25% increase on the same figure 12 months prior.
The results follow a two-year effort by the NSW Labor Government to reduce waiting lists.
Amid the backlog, unsurprisingly, patients are increasingly having to wait longer than clinically recommended, with 8,587 patients waiting longer than their doctors recommended – a 151.3% increase compared with the number at the end of March 2024.
In response to the figures, the NSW Government says it has committed $23 million to try to reduce overdue surgeries as part of the 2025-26 Budget.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park (pictured) said disruptions to services caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred in northern NSW and the Mid North Coast and workforce availability challenges had contributed to the increased wait times.
The Weekly SOURCE reported last month that the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding in NSW found "significant numbers of elderly patients occupying beds in public hospitals" was creating "bed block" and affecting the ability of patients to flow through the NSW public health system.
