Our services
We provide a wide range of vital health services to people across their lifespan, from birth to older age. Our care supports people to stay healthy, manage chronic conditions, and access urgent and specialised care when needed.
- Emergency and inpatient care is delivered at 3 major hospitals in Bathurst, Dubbo, and Orange, along with 4 district hospitals, 6 community hospitals, and 25 Multipurpose Services.
- Residential aged care is provided in our Multipurpose Services.
- Community and primary health care is widely available through 50 community health centres.
- Our District hosts the largest rural mental health service in Australia.
- Strong links exist with metropolitan hospitals for highly specialised treatments.
- In addition, the District includes a range of services that support these facilities, including Western Virtual, the District Wide Services Division, the Clinical Trials Support Unit, and the Organisational Development Unit, which offers a clinical simulation and training centre.
Image key: H=Hospitals ∇=Multipurpose services
Each year, the demand on healthcare services across WNSWLHD is growing. Between 2022/23 and 2023/24 there was a 9% increase on acute hospital admissions across the District. This reflects the ageing communities we serve, many of whom face complex health challenges. Increasing growth and demand is particularly notable in our larger regional centres, where the need for acute beds and emergency services is the highest.
Over the past decade, several specialised services such as cancer care and cardiology have further developed within our District, meaning people can access the care they need closer to home.
A typical day in Western NSW Local Health District
Every day, thousands of people receive care through our hospitals, clinics, and community services. Across the 2024/25 financial year, on an average day there were:
clinic appointments
daily admissions
daily appointments
presentations each day
Includes: 66 critical (Triage 1-2), 176 urgent (Triage 3) and 330 non-urgent presentations
How we cared for our communities in 2024-2025
This section presents a snapshot of the health care delivered by WNSWLHD in 2024-2025 — across our hospitals and through services closer to home.
Care across our hospitals
- 49,493 people admitted to hospitals (74,218 total day-only and overnight hospital care episodes).
- 43.3% of hospital admissions for people aged 65+ (19,138 people).
- 3,312 births in our hospitals.
- 1,610 mental health hospital admissions.
- 28,782 surgeries (8,848 emergency, 19,879 planned).
- 208,963 emergency department presentations.
- 1,205 people received chemotherapy or related treatments.
- 29,521 dialysis sessions, supporting 325 people.
- 776 clinical trial participants (cancer, cardiology, ICU, respiratory).
Care closer to home
- 106,403 virtually enabled consultations completed.
- 398 people had a home in a Multipurpose Service (residential aged care).
- 6.6 million km travelled by staff to deliver care across Western NSW.
- 3.4 million km reduction in staff travel since 2019/20 through virtual care and smarter outreach models.
- 90% of public inpatient care for WNSWLHD residents was delivery locally in the region’s facilities (excluding private hospital activity).
Patient experience highlights
- 83.5% of emergency department patients, and
- 93% of admitted patients,
rated their care as "Excellent” or “Good” in completed patient experience surveys during 2024 –2025.
Protecting and promoting the health of our communities
Every day, our staff work to protect, promote and restore health across Western NSW, through community and outpatient services, health promotion initiatives, and public health programs that improve wellbeing for all. Highlights for 2024/25 included:
Keeping communities safe and well
- 13,700+ communicable disease cases investigated.
- 72 facilities supported through Legionella monitoring.
- 170 tobacco retailer inspections, with 38% detecting illicit products.
- 77 schools participated in vaccination programs.
Supporting healthy living for all ages
- 200+ schools and early childhood centres engaged in healthy eating and physical activity programs.
- 692 Get Healthy Service referrals with 527 for pregnant women.
- 45 community physical activity groups with 32,900+ individual occasions of service.
- 18 Healthy Ageing and 28 Aboriginal Wellbeing programs delivered.
Care in the community
- 95,322 people seen in outpatient settings (947,197 appointments).
- 8,199 consumers were seen by community mental health services.
- 3,031 patients received community drug and alcohol services (138,284 occasions of service).
- 29,774 attended appointments through Dental Services.
- 55,303 calls managed by the Dental Contact Centre.
- 1,588 patients seen through Hospital in the Home.
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