“We cannot simply wait for the federal response” – NSW government announces move to respond to ‘stranded’ hospital patients

As the country continues to digest the nation’s next budget, there remains an undercurrent simmering beneath. While not new, the tension has shown no signs of dissipating. For months now the question of people ‘stranded’ in hospitals, particularly seniors, has been flaring up as federal and state minister trade barbs. From state ministers decrying the lack of support and funding for strained hospitals towards federal counterparts, and increasingly complex conditions presenting and staying in hospital, the model of acute care is showing ever growing signs of fracture. NSW is the latest state to announce it will not “simply wait for the federal response”, with the NSW Productivity & Equality Commission now tasked with conducting a review into senior patients ‘stuck’ in hospital.

Responsibility wrangling

The timing of NSW Treasurer Daniel Moohkey’s comments on the state’s hospital system come at a pointed time, said a few days before the budget was handed down, the frustration at the state level has mounted against the federal government’s view of responsibility and response to hospital crisis.

Mookhey last week described the current system as, “unfair for patients and unsustainable for the broader hospital system”. In reaction, the NSW state government has announced that the NSW Productivity & Equality Commission will investigate senior patients ‘stranded’ in hospital. The state government has detailed that a particular focus of the review is to include examining the financial implications and impacts of ‘stuck’ patients at the systemic level.

Mookhey says, “[inefficiency] it’s blocking the beds we badly need for more critical cases”.

“We need to find a better way to help patients who are becoming stranded, while they wait to get the Commonwealth aged care support they need,” Mookhey attests. “While this is a national problem, we cannot simply wait for the federal response.”

Budget changes

With the budget a few hours old, analysts and industry leaders are still continuing to digest it. Increased funding has been promised with the Government committing to $24.4 billion over five years from 2026-2027 in additional NHRA funding through the higher funding cap for the nation. Yet analysts say that with a growing population, ageing population and still fragmented approach to hospitals and aged care, hospital funding alone is not enough to tackle those stuck where they shouldn’t be.

Advocates and aged care industry leaders have long pointed to the problem of separated mandates between state and federal governments. With hospitals largely placed in state hands, and aged care in federal, seniors ‘stuck’ in hospitals have borne the brunt of a slow response to bed building in aged care by the federal government, and a Support at Home program that has been dogged by a litany of concerns.

Alongside a state government focus that has been split with a large and complicated hospital system catering to all demographics, industry leaders have been adamant, seniors have fallen through the cracks. Compounding the issue, experts say, seniors are likely presenting early to hospital due to lackluster access to home care supports and preventive care, and unable to be discharged as residential aged care occupancy continues to rise in the higher and higher 90s per cent.

Joint statement

A problem government, advocates and leaders have been facing is the lack of data on precisely how many ‘stranded’ patients there are. The barbs across federal and state, also towards the aged care sector too, have mounted, what has not risen however, has been verifiable data points.

A joint statement between the NSW Treasurer and Minister for Health has finally brought some clarity to the starkness of the situation at hand. The number of patients in a NSW public hospital, at the point of readiness to be discharged, but without that option due to the unavailability of a Commonwealth aged care placement, has decidedly risen, year on year. From 300 people in December 2023, to 776 in 2025, the trend highlights the degree of issue and impact.

Aged care providers have increasingly called on the government, both state and federal, to see solutions to this issue in terms of the big picture. Hospital care is one of the most expensive forms of care, far outstripping cost of residential aged care per day. Policy that re-directs funds to supporting the significant uplift in bed builds rates needed, and updating preventative medicine and Support at Home to keep seniors at home for longer, will not only reduce seniors presenting to hospital early, it will allow many to be discharged at the appropriate time. This strategy could save the system billions of dollars, experts say, and honour the dignity deserved for hundreds of senior patients. It is a matter of financial sense and ethical care, advocates and industry leaders share.

The joint statement highlights the inefficient and costly funding of ‘stranded’ seniors in hospitals, with the financial inefficiency impacting the taxpayer, system, others who need care, and sectors like aged care that need increased funding to be in the position they want to be, to place more seniors that need care. Money is not being smartly spent, analysts assess.

The statement showcases that patients ‘stranded’ in hospital, in terms of number of days, has worsened dramatically, from 11,943 in December 2023, to 44,487 in 2025.

In looking into what can be done for patients to receive optimal care, within and without of the hospital setting, and to raise access and supply of this care, the joint statement noted that NSW Health will collaborate with NSW Productivity & Equality Commission and contribute NSW Health staff to the review team to assist in building up robust and evidence-based recommendations.

Federal team established

In a sign the Federal government is waking to the need to publicly address the rising concerns with ‘stranded’ patients, particularly seniors, there have been movements when it comes to federal action.

Messaging from the federal government has noted that in order to shape and land policy, and elevate outcomes for those who have remained in hospital past medically approved discharge times, due to obstacles in accessing aged care, NDIS placements, the national Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce has been actioned. This taskforce is to be a coalition between federal and NSW Governments, it will begin in conjunction with the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission review.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park noted, “every day in New South Wales, there is the equivalent of an entire hospital taken offline because people cannot access Commonwealth aged care placements”.

He says, “hospitals were not designed for indefinite stays and these people deserve better.”

In an overt nod to the rising pressure state governments are placing on federal personnel and portfolios, the taskforce and review come after the most recent Health Minister’s Meeting, with post-event messaging reading, ““the NSW Government successfully led a push for a national Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce to address discharge delays in Australia’s public hospital system”.

As further data emerges as to just how dire the numbers are for those ‘stuck’ in hospital, and particularly the inefficient and ballooning cost of caring for them in the hospital setting, advocates and industry leaders are eagerly watching for updates in policy to shift funds to strategic areas of supporting rapid bed builds and home care scheme accessibility and functional ease.