NSW Productivity Commission to probe bed block, interstate taskforce established
A landmark inquiry will investigate the fate of elderly patients stranded in NSW public hospitals as Australian health ministers agreed to form an emergency interstate task force.
The NSW Productivity and Equity Commission will assess the cost and impact of more than 900 patients across the state stranded waiting for state government aged care placements as of April.
The six-month study will recommend ways to reduce discharge delays, improve access to care and ease pressure on hospitals.
Alongside the inquiry, a new national Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce, jointly led by the state and NSW governments, will help shape policy and improve outcomes for patients, following the agreement reached at the last Health Ministers Meeting earlier this year.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told NewsWire the investigation “will bring another perspective to a really bad and challenging problem”.
Mr Park said of stranded patients, also known as bed blockage: “This is a huge challenge for us. It’s one of the biggest challenges facing the healthcare system right now, especially as we head into winter.”
Mr Park warned that alongside nurse staffing, bed blockage for aged care patients was the “number one issue” affecting access to NSW hospitals.
“Every morning we wake up there are about 1,200 beds that are unusable by people coming into hospital… that’s the equivalent of two busy, large hospitals in Sydney that we actually can’t use,” Mr Park said.
“So when someone comes to their local hospital, if their local health district has a large number of these beds being used by patients, including aged care and NDIS patients who no longer require healthcare through the hospital system, then there are a limited number of beds available.
“We’re losing these beds to people who shouldn’t be there, who not only shouldn’t be there for the sake of the system, but they shouldn’t be there themselves.
“It’s not good for them. It’s very bad for their families because hospitals were never designed to be places where people stay long-term.”
The number of patients awaiting placement in federal aged care increased from 300 patients in December 2023 to 776 patients in 2025.
The number of patients trapped in the hospital also increased from 11,493 at the end of 2023 to 44,487 in 2025.
A report published in February found that more than 3,100 patients were still in hospital beds nationwide in early 2026.
There were approximately 922 patients in NSW alone between February and April.
“It is increasing at a dramatic pace. It needs to be reversed quickly,” Mr. Park said of the crisis.
“We need short-term solutions. If we’re going to turn this problem around, we need medium and long-term solutions because we’re doing what we can in NSW.”
Mr Park said the state government was funding geriatric outreach – clinicians going into aged care settings to treat people – as well as ambulance paramedics going to nursing homes.
He said the review would examine what both state and federal governments could do.
“We’re not asking them to run our emergency services,” he said of the federal government.
“What we need is better support so people can leave hospital and return to aged care settings or their homes.”
Last month, Health Minister Mark Butler announced the Albanian government would spend $3 billion to provide more beds, packages and “better care for older Australians”.
Treatment of personal care services within the scope of the Home Support program will be made free of charge, as well as other clinical care.
Albania’s government also signed an 11th-hour deal with provincial and regional leaders to secure funding for public hospitals after years of impasse.
Mr Park said the funding was “welcome”.
“But this problem won’t be solved anytime soon,” he said.
“The numbers are increasing too much, too significantly for this to be the solution.”
