As of 30 June 2026, there were 86 stranded patients waiting for Commonwealth aged care and NDIS placements in hospitals across the Central Coast.
This includes:
- 34 patients in Gosford Hospital
- 47 patients in Wyong Hospital
The NSW Government is investing $35.7 million into an Aged Care Response Package, to deliver much-needed relief for older people experiencing discharge delays.
The NSW Government is also working with the Commonwealth to expand services helping older people remain well and safely at home, reducing avoidable hospital presentations and admissions. These initiatives include:
- Expanding Aged Care Outreach Services (ACOS) to provide short-term multidisciplinary care in the home to avoid unnecessary hospitalisations
- Rolling out Virtual Specialist Geriatric Care which delivers specialist geriatric support to people aged 65 years and over at home, helping to avoid hospital admissions and supporting earlier discharge where appropriate
Hospital performance
Despite these challenges, there have been improvements in emergency department performance and the number of people accessing care outside of the hospital.
Across the Central Coast Local Health District, the proportion of triage category 2 patients – people with life threatening conditions – being treated on time improved in the April to June 2026 quarter to 72 per cent compared to four years ago (55.7 per cent in 2022 under the Liberals).
Hospitals which have improved the proportion of triage category 2 patients treated on time compared to four years ago include:
- Gosford – 68.4 per cent compared to 56.7 under the Liberals
- Wyong – 75.9 per cent compared to 54.6 under the Liberals
The overall proportion of patients across the District being treated on time improved in the April to June 2026 quarter to 55.3 compared to four years ago (40.3 per cent in 2022 under the Liberals).
Ramping at Central Coast hospitals has also improved in the April to June 2026 quarter with transfer of care from paramedics to the ED increasing to 71.2 per cent compared to four years ago (51.8 per cent in 2022 under the Liberals).
Hospitals which have improved the proportion of patients transferred from paramedics to ED staff within 30 minutes compared to four years ago include:
- Gosford – 69.1 per cent compared to 55.8 under the Liberals
- Wyong- 73.4 per cent compared to 47.2 under the Liberals
Across the District, the number of triage 4 semi-urgent patients has decreased from around 17,400 four years ago under the Liberals to just below 12,200 in the April to June 2026 quarter. The number of triage 5 non-urgent patients has decreased from around 2,800 in the April to June 2022 quarter under the Liberals to around 1,800.
More hospitals, more beds, more staff, more services
This improvement in performance coincides with an increased uptake of alternative pathways to care outside of the hospital, including Healthdirect, the expansion of virtual care services across NSW with $124m invested for urgent care services; over $500m invested into ED relief; more beds and the recruitment of more health workers including over 900 nurses, 740 paramedics, 1,400 doctors and 1,500 allied health workers over the past three years.
The Minns Labor Government’s 2026-27 Budget also delivered a record boost of $10.3 billion to help recruit an additional 9,000 health workers, deliver record pay rises for nurses and midwives, and expand services, as well as $11.9 billion to deliver 32 new and upgraded hospitals and more than 2,500 additional beds and treatment spaces across the state.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Ryan Park:
“The number of people waiting for Commonwealth aged care and NDIS placements stranded in NSW hospitals is growing at an unprecedented and unsustainable level.
“In the Central Coast, this means more than 80 beds in NSW public hospitals cannot be used as a result.
“Waiting indefinitely in a hospital is not good for patient mobility, recovery or quality of life. These people are more than statistics, and they deserve so much better.
“Despite these challenges, we are continuing to see progress in emergency department wait times which has coincided with a significant investment from the Minns Labor Government into ED relief – and I want to thank our health workers for their hard work and commitment to our health system.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for the Central Coast and Member for Wyong David Harris:
“Today, 86 Central Coast patients needing hospital care are being denied it because those beds are taken up by people stranded despite being ready to move to Commonwealth aged care and NDIS placements.
“This is not good for anyone – the people lying in limbo in our hospitals and patients in our community who need those beds.
“In spite of this, it is pleasing to see the major investments from the Minns Labor Government are making a real difference with waiting times in our Emergency Departments trending downwards.
“We will continue to work hard on the Coast to ensure people get improved access to the care they need.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch:
“Right now, 86 beds on the Central Coast are occupied by patients who are medically ready to move to an aged care or NDIS placement. These are beds that cannot be used by patients needing hospital care.
“Each of these beds represents an individual who cannot be given certainty about their future. For older and vulnerable patients, these extended stays have real impacts on mobility and wellbeing. These 86 patients deserve more than unknown wait times.
“Despite this, I am pleased to see progress being made across emergency department wait times as a result of investment by the Minns Labor Government. I will continue to work with my Central Coast Labor colleagues to make sure that our community always has access to the care they need, when they need it most.”
Quotes attributable to Member for the Entrance David Mehan:
“The number of people stuck in hospital waiting for Commonwealth aged care and NDIS support is disheartening, but I am pleased to see patients across the Central Coast are seeing better results in our emergency departments.
“More people with serious conditions are being treated on time at Gosford and Wyong, while fewer people are presenting with less urgent conditions.
“This is a credit to our hardworking health staff and the investment by the Minns Labor Government in more staff, beds and services like Long Jetty Urgent Care Service.
“There’s more to do, but these results show we’re heading in the right direction.”
