Strong planned surgery performance as hospital admissions surge across Hunter New England Local Health District

Chief Executive, Tracey McCosker said staff had achieved outstanding results, performing 8,278 planned surgeries – an increase of 1,330 procedures or 19.1 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2024. Almost all (99.9 per cent) urgent planned surgeries were performed on time.

“We’ve made significant progress in improving access for patients on our surgical waiting lists, which reflects the hard work and collaboration of staff across our facilities,” Ms McCosker said.

“Of particular note is the 29.5 per cent increase in semi-urgent surgeries performed, compared with the same quarter last year, with 3,041 patients receiving their procedures in April to June 2025.

“The number of patients waiting longer than recommended for their surgery reduced to 430 at the end of the quarter, a significant reduction from 1,249 patients at the end of March this year.”

Ms McCosker said the increase in surgical activity is the result of targeted strategies, including opening additional operating theatres, successful recruitment of surgical staff, and close teamwork between nurses, doctors and allied health staff.

“Despite working hard to increase the number of surgeries performed across the district, we acknowledge demand continues to increase, particularly for those requiring orthopaedic and ophthalmology services,” Ms McCosker said.

Any patients who feel their condition may have deteriorated while awaiting surgery are encouraged to contact their treating doctor, who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category if appropriate.

The report showed that there were 111,773 emergency department (ED) attendances– down 2.8 per cent (3,197 fewer) compared with the same quarter last year. While overall attendances were slightly lower, 29,279 patients arrived by ambulance – 1,216 more people than the same quarter last year.

The numbers of ED presentations in triage categories 2 (emergency) and 3 (urgent) increased by 8.3 per cent (1,285 presentations) and 2.7 per cent (912 presentations) respectively, compared with the same quarter last year.

During April to June 2025, there were 60,538 admitted patient episodes of care – up 8.1 per cent (4,529 episodes) compared with the same quarter in 2024. This is the highest quarterly admission figure for the district since BHI reporting began in 2010.

“This tells us that the patients coming to our EDs are sicker and require more complex care,,” Ms McCosker said.

“I am also pleased to see a 19.2 per cent reduction in the number of non-urgent presentations this quarter, when compared to the same quarter last year, which shows urgent care services and virtual care are reducing pressure on our EDs. I thank the community for keeping our EDs for saving lives.”

Nearly two-thirds (64.5 per cent) of patients in the ED started their treatment on time. Around three in four patients (74.1 per cent) arriving by ambulance were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark, an improvement of 5.3 percentage points compared with the same quarter in 2024 (68.8 per cent).

HNELHD continues to invest in strategies to improve the timeliness of care for patients presenting to EDs, including implementing systems to improve patient flow and prioritise discharges across all clinical disciplines.
Seven hospitals within our District are introducing Safe Staffing Levels (SSL) in EDs, including:

• John Hunter
• Tamworth
• Armidale
• Calvary Mater
• Manning
• Maitland
• Cessnock

A number of these facilities have already completed recruitment. The SSL initiative involves rostering minimum staffing levels on every shift, ensuring a one-to-one nursing care ratio for generally occupied ED resuscitation beds, and one nurse to three for generally occupied ED treatment spaces and ED short-stay unit beds on all shifts.

If an illness or injury is not serious or life-threatening, we encourage the community to call Healthdirect on 1800 022 222, for 24-hour advice. A nurse will answer your call, ask some questions and connect you with the right care, which may include a telehealth or an Urgent Care Service appointment.