Australians continue to suffer as a result of a logjammed public hospital system, with emergency department (ED) and planned surgery waiting times remaining at some of the worst levels on record.
The Australian Medical Association's 2025 Public hospital report card , to be launched today in Sydney, shows some modest improvements in public hospital performance, but performance remains markedly worse than it was just five years ago.
The report card covers the 2023–24 financial year — the most recent data available.
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said she welcomed the improvements, including a drop in the median waiting time for planned surgery and an increase in the total number of public hospital beds available.
"We are glad to see some good news in this report card, however, there is no escaping the reality that Australia's public hospitals remain critically logjammed," Dr McMullen said.
"While the total number of public hospital beds available has increased, when we consider the ageing population, the number of available beds per 1000 Australians aged over 65 is stagnant at 14.3 — the lowest on record."
The grim level of capacity in public hospitals is taking a significant toll on doctors, who are working harder under increasingly challenging conditions — and without adequate government investment to support them.
Ahead of the launch of the report card in Sydney today, AMA NSW President Dr Kathryn Austin said the data presented in the report card would come as no surprise to staff in NSW public hospitals, with doctors being asked to do more with less.
"We have an exhausted workforce operating on budgets and staffing levels from seven years ago," Dr Austin said.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain medical staff in NSW. This is untenable and, sadly, patients who should be at the centre of our health system are the collateral damage."
The AMA's report card shows just 55 per cent of ED presentations across Australia were completed within the benchmark target of four hours in 2023–24, marking the eighth consecutive annual fall in performance for this metric.
A third of all ED patients triaged as "emergency" (category two) were not seen within the recommended 10-minue time frame, up from a quarter five years earlier. Category two presentations include chest pain of a cardiac nature, severe respiratory distress or acute stroke.
The proportion of category two planned surgery patients undergoing surgery within 90 days has fallen from 83 per cent five years ago to 71 per cent in 2023–24. However, this is a six per cent improvement from the previous financial year. Category two surgeries include heart valve replacements and operations to address congenital cardiac defects.
"It's encouraging to see there have been some short-term improvements when we compare this report with the last one, but there is still a very long way to go to reverse the long-term trends," Dr McMullen said.
"In the lead-up to this year's federal election, we are calling on all politicians and political parties to prioritise our health system, including our hospitals.
"While recent investment from the federal government and action to address issues in some states and territories is welcome; the delay to a new National Health Reform Agreement was disappointing. The federal government's promised investment, originally estimated at $13 billion, into our public hospitals is little more than a nice idea if states and territories fail to reach an agreement with the federal government.
"The need for a new fit-for-purpose agreement has never been greater — for both doctors and their patients."
