Northern Beaches Hospital to cut NSW surgery wait times with 5000 ops
A high-volume surgery center has been set up to allow an extra 5000 surgeries to be performed each year, significantly reducing waiting times across NSW.
The centre, the first of its kind in the state, will be located at the Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The extra surgeries will start from July 1, 2026 and will be carried out at the hospital each year, NSW Health said.
“The focus will be on specialties in high demand such as ophthalmology, orthopedics, ear, nose and throat, general surgery and gynecology,” the statement said.
Patients from Western Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra will be directed to the planned surgery center to help reduce surgical waiting lists and give patients more choice in their care.
The new surgery center builds on the Minns Labor government’s decision to return Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership.
The public ownership agreement between the NSW government and the hospital’s private operator Healthscope has cost the state $190 million and the transition is expected to take place on April 29, 2026.
Health Minister Ryan Park said delayed surgeries “peaked under the Liberals” and described the aftermath of the opposition’s legacy of privatization as “seismic”.
“It wasn’t easy, but we bought this hospital in record time,” Mr. Park said.
“I am delighted that the state’s new high-volume planned surgery center will expand our health system’s surgical capacity to help patients get the care they need faster.”
He said it was a “win” for the Northern Beaches community and patients across NSW.
“With the establishment of the surgery center, we will be able to offer thousands of patients each year the option to undergo surgery more quickly and provide much-needed assistance to hospitals across the state,” he said.
The hospital will come under the management of the North Sydney Local Health District and become part of NSW Health by mid-2026.
Within the scope of the agreement regarding the transition of the hospital from private ownership, the entire 494-bed facility will be taken over by the public.
More than 1,800 existing Northern Beaches Hospital staff have been offered jobs at Northern Beaches Hospital by NSW Health, and staff annual, long-term service and sick leave entitlements will be transferred from Healthscope to NSW Health.
Former partnerships between the NSW government and private organizations were canceled under Joe’s Law, which banned public-private partnerships for acute, emergency and surgical services in NSW public hospitals.
“The Minn Labor government continues to repair the damage caused by the former Coalition government’s failed privatization agenda, which included attempts to privatize hospitals in Maitland, Wyong, Goulburn, Shellharbour and Bowral,” the NSW government said in a statement.
“The passage of Joe’s Law now protects NSW communities from future privatization of public hospitals.”
