Hospital bed occupancy rates in NSW hit all-time highs in 2024-25 with nearly 95 per cent of beds occupied on average, according to the state's health data bureau.
From March 2025 to March 2026, the number of patients staying in hospital while waiting for either aged care or National Disability Insurance Scheme placement spiked from 871 to 1276.
The rise in aged care figures was particularly sharp, surging from 597 to 948.
Bureau of Health Information data showed the average length of stay for people discharged to residential aged care grew 8.5 days between 2017-19 and 2023-24, from 18.6 to 27.1 days.Â
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the numbers signalled NSW was subsidising the federal government's duties.
He launched the state's own strategy to clear bed block on Wednesday while delivering his latest stinging message to Canberra.
''The growth in the number of stranded Commonwealth aged care patients in our health system is unsustainable, and the Commonwealth has left the NSW government with no choice but to devise its own plan," Mr Park said.
''This is by no means a signal to the Commonwealth they are relieved of their responsibility to deliver aged care placements."
NSW will expand outreach services to try and prevent hospitalisations, triage and refer patients to community services, and strengthen hospital in the home services, he said.
"We as a state have invested heavily into areas traditionally the Commonwealth's - geriatric outreach, hospital in the home, virtual care, and urgent care services," Mr Park said.
"You've got a growth in the number of people coming into your hospitals, and you're heading into winter, you would forgive me for being concerned."
Other states are also facing similar problems, with SA establishing a transition care service at a hotel to care for elderly patients who don't need hospital treatment but can't access federal aged care.
States and territories will receive $25 billion extra in Commonwealth funding for hospitals following a meeting of national cabinet in January.
State and territory health ministers revealed in February that more than 3000 people were stranded in public hospitals waiting for aged care across the country.
That report found the number of aged care patients in hospital with no medical reason to be there had spiked 30 per cent in five months and directly linked bed-blocking to emergency department waiting times.
NSW health bureau data released on Wednesday found emergency department wait times between January and March 2026 were relatively stable compared with a year earlier.
14°C