The John Hunter Hospital has been identified as the busiest emergency room in the state outside of Sydney, with almost 37 per cent of patients waiting more than four hours.
The Healthcare Quarterly report from the Bureau of Health Information found that 19,622 patients presented to the emergency department between April and June 2017, which is up 5.4 per cent from the same time in 2016.
The data also showed 63.4 per cent of patients left emergency within four hours of admissions, down from 68 per cent at the same time last year all the while presentations had increased by 5.4 per cent.
the average waiting time for emergency patients at the hospital is still 39 minutes above the state average.
NSW Shadow Minister for Health Walt Secord attributed the increase in patients to families being unable to afford
"Patients are flooding emergency departments because they cannot get into a GP's practice or they are unable to pay extra for a GP - Putting unnecessary pressure on the State's emergency departments. In desperation, families on tight budgets are turning to emergency departments," Mr Secord said.
Bureau of Health Information Acting Cheif Executive, Dr Kim Sutherland said over overall 663,000 patients presented to a NSW Hospital from April to June 2017.
"Patients who presented to the emergency department in that April to June quarter - there was almost 20,000 at the John Hunter Hospital, with an increase of over one thousand compared to the same quarter last year - So, quite busy and a bigger increase than we saw at a New South Wales level which, was 4.2 per cent," Dr Sutherland said.
Maitland Hospital also made an appearance in the top 20 on the list, with 11,760 presentations over the April to June quarter, which is down 0.1 per cent from the previous year. While, the Calvary Mater Hospital in Waratah placed further down the list at number 27, with 9,028 presentations to its emergency department. That number is up 4.8 per cent from the previous year.
