New Taskforce formed as 3000-plus in hospital beds wait for aged care
NSW leads national push to fix hospital discharge delays
- National taskforce: NSW and Commonwealth launch hospital discharge Taskforce
- 3,100 patients: Older Australians stranded in hospitals driving system pressure
- Six-month review: NSW Productivity & Equality Commission to review discharge delays
- Rising demand: Stranded patient bed days surge sharply over three years
The NSW Government’s Productivity and Equality Commission will lead a national review of older patients stranded in hospital.
At the 1 May Health Ministers’ Meeting, a national Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce was established, as more than 3,000 older patients remain stranded in hospital waiting for residential aged care, according to data provided by State Health Departments to The Weekly SOURCE.
The Taskforce will address the transition of people discharged from hospital into aged care, disability care or other care systems.
The Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce will be jointly Chaired by the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Blair Comley PSM and the Secretary of the New South Wales Ministry of Health Susan Pearce AM.
The Taskforce will commence alongside a review by the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission, which will look into older patients stranded in hospitals, examining ways to reduce discharge delays, improve access to care, and relieve pressure on hospitals.
The review will report in six months' time, which means nothing will change before Winter, the worst time for hospital admissions.
“Every day in New South Wales, there is the equivalent of an entire hospital taken offline because people cannot access Commonwealth aged care placements,” said NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park.
FTI Consulting published a seven-point plan to ease hospital discharge delays in February.
| Hospital patients waiting for residential aged care | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | 30-Oct-25 | 15-Jan-26 | 4-May-26 | Trend |
| QLD | 837 | 837 | 1,072 | ↑ |
| SA | 348 | 377 | 370 | ↓ |
| NSW | 878 | 829 | 829 | * |
| TAS | 84 | 88 | 94 | ↑ |
| VIC | 246 | 246 | 246 | — |
| WA | 315 | 304 | 304 | * |
| NT | 80 | 80 | 52 | ↓ |
| ACT | 70 | 80 | 63 | ↓ |
| TOTAL | 2,858 | 2,841 | 3,030 | 7% |
Nicki Doyle, Head of FTI Consulting Aged Care, Australia, told The Weekly SOURCE, the review is a "positive" move and that should provide "clarity" as to the numbers and reasons why patients are being stranded in hospital.
"I hope they explore all lines of inquiry to be able to set up a strong agenda going forward that will actually make a difference," she said. "The last thing we want or need is for older people not to be in the right environment."
Nicki urged "caution" on the timing. The issue of hospital patients stranded waiting for aged care "will continue to get worse, as it often does over winter", she said. She'd like to see Governments offer interim solutions until recommendations can be implemented.
Local councils: “lead into building aged care”, says Minister
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said: “The establishment of this Taskforce ... is going to help us understand the precise nature of the challenge.
“Some of these patients have high-level dementia, which is difficult to place in standard aged care facilities. This taskforce will help get to the bottom of this challenge.”
Butler added state and local councils should be “leaning into” building new aged care facilities.
NSW threatens to act alone
“We need to find a better way to help patients who are becoming stranded, while they wait to get the Commonwealth aged care support they need,” said NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.
“While this is a national problem, we cannot simply wait for the Federal response.”
*Western Australia and New South Wales have been approached for data on hospital patients waiting on residential aged care.
