THE Australian College of Nursing says the latest report from the New South Wales Bureau of Health Information confirms the urgent need for widespread health sector reform, while the NSW Government commits $23 million to reduce overdue surgeries as part of the 2025-26 Budget.

Acting ACN CEO, Dr Zachary Byfield, said the BHI’s January-March report clearly illustrates the pressures nurses and their colleagues are under, with near-record demand for ED care and ballooning elective surgery lists.

“Despite the overall picture of a system under stress, it’s great to see that nurses and their ED team members are improving handover times, with a 4.7 percentage point increase in the proportion of patients handed over from ambulance to ED staff within 30 minutes,” Dr Byfield said.

“But it’s unconscionable that 8587 patients are waiting beyond clinically safe timeframes for surgery.”

ACN says the report adds weight to the need for all governments to invest more in preventive and primary health care, as recommended by Justice Richard Beasley in the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding, released last month.

“We welcome NSW Health Minister Ryan Park’s announcement of $23 million to cut overdue surgeries, but the NSW government must look at the bigger picture urgently,” Dr Byfield said.

“Justice Beasley found the lack of preventive and primary care in the NSW health system was “beyond [his] comprehension.

“What we are seeing in the BHI figures is a culmination of the failure to prevent chronic conditions and primary care delivery. Urgent change is needed to save our hospitals from continuing to struggle to care for people with complex, multi-morbidities.

“It is a fiction that primary health care is only the preserve of the Commonwealth. Just look at the success of nurse-led walk-in clinics in the ACT and the key leadership role of nurses in Urgent Care Clinics nationally to see how better use of the health workforce improves patient access to the care they need.

“We urge the NSW government to undertake the required regulatory reform and fund innovative primary care models, including those led by nurses, to increase and improve primary care to our people and communities.

“Registered nurses across Australia will soon be able to have prescribing powers: we need to prepare the ground to harness the enormous effects on population health that this could have.

“It will require investment to bring about change, but the dividends will be huge – to patients, to quality of lives, and to health budgets.

“ACN urges the NSW government to invest some of the $23 million in workforce, including perioperative nursing staff.

“Every day of delay for the 8587 patients waiting far too long for surgery represents potential clinical deterioration, increased anxiety, and compromised quality of life.

“Our perioperative nurses are not just managing surgical procedures – they’re providing psychological support, monitoring deteriorating conditions, and advocating for patients trapped in an overwhelmed system.”

The State government says there have been challenges that contributed to the increase, including Tropical Cyclone Alfred that disrupted services in northern NSW and the mid north coast, and workforce availability challenges that continue in some parts of the state.

Meanwhile, there is encouraging data coming out of NSW hospital emergency departments.

EDs have enjoyed a significant decrease in semi-urgent and non-urgent presentations over the past year.

Semi urgent presentations decreased by 18,472 or 6.2 per cent. Non urgent presentations decreased by 7923 or 11.7 per cent.

It coincides with more 45,000 patients being diverted away to care outside the ED over the March 2025 quarter, including to urgent and virtual care through HealthDirect.

The transfer of patients from paramedics to ED staff within 30 minutes has improved across NSW by 4.7 percentage points to 83 per cent.

Treatment on time for T2 emergency cases has also improved by 2.4 percentage points across the state.

Minister for Health Ryan Park said tackling overdue surgeries has been a priority.

“We made significant progress in reducing the overdue surgeries, down from 14,000,” Mr Park said.

“But we know there’s always more that we can do to improve the accessibility of planned surgeries.”