Sydney's busiest emergency departments revealed in new health data

Sydney hospitals with highest attendances at emergency departments revealed in new BHI report In short: The latest quarterly report from the Bureau of Health Information has shone a light on the state of NSW's public health system. The report, focused on data between April to June 2026, revealed Sydney's busiest emergency departments. South-west Sydney hospitals had some of the highest attendance rates and episodes of mental health care. South Western Sydney Local Health District is doing the heavy lifting across the city's hospitals in a range of categories, new public health data reveals. The latest Healthcare Quarterly data from April to June 2026, released by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI), paints a picture of NSW's health system. Overall for NSW, more elective surgery procedures were performed on time and more emergency department patients were treated on time compared with the same quarter a year earlier. But demand across the state's hospitals remained ever-present. The median time from arrival to leaving the emergency department for all NSW patients was 3 hours and 49 minutes, up 5 minutes compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Sydney's busiest emergency departments The data captured emergency department attendance. In Sydney's north, Royal North Shore Hospital had 22,805 attendances, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital had 13,153 attendances and Ryde Hospital was the lowest at 6,954. Northern Beaches Hospital recorded 16,009 attendances, but this hospital only transitioned into the public system from April 29, so any results prior to this date cover publicly contracted services only. In the south-west, Liverpool Hospital had the greatest attendances at 23,773, followed closely by Campbelltown Hospital at 23,664. The lowest rates in this local health district were Camden Hospital (3,014) and Fairfield Hospital (9,099). Other particularly busy Sydney hospitals included St George Hospital at 21,038 attendances, and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital at 20,832. What the data shows is the high demand faced by the South Western Sydney Local Health District, which covers an area of 6,243 square kilometres from Bankstown to Bowral. Treatment times at Sydney hospitals As for the percentage of patients starting treatments on time at Sydney hospital emergency departments between April to June 2026, the data showed major improvement in one key local health district. At Liverpool Hospital, 77.5 per cent of patients started treatment on time, a 7.8 per cent increase compared to the previous year's reporting period. Campbelltown Hospital saw one of the biggest improvements, from 53.8 per cent between April to June 2025, to 68.2 per cent in this year's period. Camden Hospital recorded 84.1 per cent for the 2026 reporting period, Ryde Hospital had 83.5 per cent and Royal North Shore Hospital was 74.6 per cent. As for the lesser performing hospitals in this category, Fairfield Hospital stood at 49 per cent, and Prince of Wales Hospital was 52.6 per cent. Blacktown Hospital was also one of the lower rates at 49 per cent, though it was a 9.3 per cent improvement from the previous year's period. Health Minister Ryan Park acknowledged there was "still a lot to do in our emergency departments". When asked on 702 ABC Sydney about one caller's experience of waiting 20 hours at Westmead Hospital, Mr Park said it was "not good enough". "But one of the challenges is … there has been a massive increase and nearly doubling of the patients that are categorised two and three," Mr Park said in reference to the past 15 years in NSW. Category two refers to emergency cases, and category three refers to urgent cases. "They're the sickest patients in the system. They need to spend more time in an emergency department," he said. Episodes of mental health care at Sydney hospitals Patients admitted for mental health episodes of care at Sydney hospitals were also recorded. The inner west saw great demand, with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital having one of the highest rates at 690 episodes, along with Concord Hospital at 529. The city's south-west also did heavy lifting at Campbelltown Hospital (532), Liverpool Hospital (382) and Nepean Hospital (345). Elective surgeries at Sydney hospitals Across NSW in the reporting period, 85.6 per cent of elective surgeries were performed on time, not including the Hunter New England Local Health District, as centralised data from this district was not available for the report. There were 697 NSW patients on the waiting list that had waited longer than clinically recommended. As for Sydney specifically, only a few hospitals recorded considerable rates of patients waiting longer than recommended for surgery at the end of the quarter. Prince of Wales Hospital recorded 71 patients waiting longer than recommended and St George Hospital had 49. Mr Park said the system was under pressure from 1,300 beds being taken up every day from people who were medically fine but waiting on NDIS or aged care spaces. "That's the equivalent of two Sydney hospitals not to be used," he said. [Image text:] Emergency Entrance A Drop Off