The New South Wales government has announced it will pursue its own strategy to reduce pressure on hospital beds after reporting that nearly 1,300 patients are unable to leave hospital while waiting for aged care or National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) placements.
According to the government, 1,276 patients were occupying hospital beds while awaiting alternative care arrangements in the year to March 2026, up from 871 a year earlier.
Almost 950 of those patients were older people waiting for aged care placements.
New measures announced
The state government said its response would include expanding aged care outreach services, strengthening hospital-in-the-home programs, improving referrals to community-based services and enhancing discharge planning for patients with complex needs.
The measures are intended to address what health authorities describe as growing pressure on hospital capacity caused by delays in securing placements outside the hospital system.
State blames Commonwealth shortfall
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the situation had reached an unsustainable level and argued the state was being forced to step in because of shortcomings in Commonwealth-funded services.
“The NSW Government is effectively subsidising the Commonwealth in its duty to provide aged care places,” Park said.
He said the sharp rise in patients remaining in hospital while awaiting aged care placements was placing increasing strain on the health system.
“The growth in the number of stranded Commonwealth aged care patients in our health system is unsustainable, and the Commonwealth has left the NSW Government with no choice but to devise its own plan,” he said.
Call for federal action continues
Despite introducing its own measures, the NSW government said the Commonwealth remained responsible for delivering aged care placements.
Park said the state’s strategy should not be interpreted as relieving the federal government of its obligations.
“While the NSW Government is pursuing its own plan to address bed block, this is by no means a signal to the Commonwealth that they are relieved of their responsibility to deliver aged care placements.”
The announcement comes as governments continue to face pressure over hospital capacity, aged care availability and demand for disability support services.