Trauma patients have revealed they would rather die than return to a Sydney hospital emergency room.
People unlucky enough to spend time in the emergency room at Blacktown Hospital in Sydney’s west said they would rather be sent anywhere else.
Photographs have emerged of patients lying on the floor of waiting rooms, some of whom are forced to wait for more than four hours to be seen.
Despite a brand new emergency room, Blacktown Hospital remains one of the worst hospitals in the state, according to Health Information Bureau statistics released Wednesday.
The latest quarterly data revealed that emergency service visits increased by 9.7 percent and ambulance visits increased by 11.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2024.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park blamed some people for long wait times for “using emergency departments as a way to try to access primary health care”, which has “never been the way our health system in this country has been designed”.
Opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane asked Mr Park during question time whether the NSW health system had “hit rock bottom” but he insisted Blacktown was “a hospital with unprecedented demand”.
A chronically ill patient, George Evans from Rooty Hill, begged paramedics and doctors to take him to any hospital other than Blacktown when he needed care.
People who have spent time in the emergency room at Blacktown Hospital in western Sydney have said they would rather die at home than be sent there.
Photographs of patients strewn across the waiting room floor show several people waiting for hours before receiving proper treatment at the hospital.
“I’m not going to go to Blacktown A&E, let me die. I’d rather die somewhere else or at home,” he said. He told 7News.
Mr. Evans suffers from chronic heart and lung conditions that require frequent emergency room visits and his wife, Kaylene, has been caring for him for 25 years.
“Blacktown Hospital is in crisis,” he said.
Dozens of other patients have reportedly filed complaints against the hospital with the state Health Care Commission.
One patient was filmed airing her complaints against the hospital, saying: “The whole healthcare system needs a kick up the arse.”
Dozens of patients have reportedly lodged complaints against Blacktown Hospital with the NSW Health Care Commission.
At a separate news conference, Mr Park assured New South Wales residents that “their government is listening to them”.
He said if it were easier to find a GP in New South Wales, the problem could be solved.
The Minister explained that only the federal government, under whose jurisdiction primary care falls, can help the state.
“It’s never been harder to find a GP in New South Wales,” Park said.
But Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said there was “nothing unique” in New South Wales.
“Every hospital system in the country – frankly, every hospital system in the world right now – is under extraordinary pressure,” he said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the New South Wales Health Commission and Western Sydney Local Health District for comment.
