Month: June 2024

An Emergency Department relief package announced by the Minns Labor Government will ease the pressure on stretched NSW hospitals.

The 2024-25 NSW Budget invests $480.7 million in a package of initiatives that will help to avoid an estimated 290,000 visits to emergency departments each year once fully implemented.

This package will connect more people across NSW with high quality, accessible and timely care, by expanding alternatives to the emergency department, and by improving the flow of patients through the system.

The latest Bureau of Health Information data for January to March 2024 continued to see a record number of ambulance responses and more patients who are sicker than ever before presenting to NSW public hospital EDs, with a record number of triage category 1, 2 and 3 presentations.

Alternatives to Emergency Departments

Almost 180,000 people are expected to be able to avoid a trip to busy EDs each year with a $171.4 million expansion of the services accessed via Healthdirect through the Single Front Door.

This package will significantly expand access for people across the state to the free services available though Healthdirect. Building on the success of virtualKIDS which became statewide at the end of 2023, a new statewide service, VirtualADULTS will provide greater access to virtual consultation with a range of health professionals such as doctors, nurses and mental health clinicians, and access to virtual specialist advice where required through newly established service pathways.

By calling Healthdirect, individuals will first speak to a registered nurse who will triage the patient, assessing the urgency of their condition and their suitability for a virtual consultation.

If the registered nurse deems a patient’s condition is serious enough to warrant an urgent appointment but not serious enough to warrant a presentation to an ED, they will connect the patient to a GP or refer them for a virtual consultation with a senior nurse or a doctor.

Adults and children with conditions like fevers, mild respiratory illnesses, infections, vomiting and diarrhoea often require medical advice and intervention within 24 hours but may not be able to obtain an appointment with their local GP in that timeframe. Through the virtual consultation, the clinician will be able to assess the patient’s condition, give detailed medical advice, provide e-scripts and discuss a treatment plan. Virtual specialist advice will also be accessed by the consulting clinician if required.

This initiative will allow many patients who have urgent but not life-threatening conditions such as these to avoid a trip to an ED by providing care and treatment through Healthdirect instead.

The community can access the service by calling Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 at any time. Treatment is free for Medicare card holders.

If you need language support, call TIS National on 131 450 and ask for Healthdirect.

Additionally, more than 114,000 ED presentations will be avoided every year with a $100 million investment in the state’s Urgent Care Services for a further two years.

Urgent Care Services provide an excellent alternative for people with health issues that are urgent, but not life threatening, to avoid attending a busy ED.

These include a number of urgent care clinics across NSW, as well services run through Local Health Districts such as geriatric outreach services. The clinics are available at Caringbah, Carlton, Dapto, Top Ryde, Liverpool, Long Jetty, Gregory Hills, Bankstown and Orange, with patients booking an appointment through Healthdirect.

The NSW Government has delivered 16 Urgent Care Services since July 2023 as part of a commitment to deliver 25 urgent care services across the state by June 2025.

Alleviating pressure on EDs frees up vital resources for patients with more serious needs and improves conditions for hardworking staff.

Improving patient flow

Public hospitals across NSW will be able to support an estimated 16,000 patients per year and avoid nearly 80,000 hours of ED wait times, through an expansion of Emergency Department Short Stay Units.

This $70 million investment will support more treatment spaces in EDs for ED patients who require short-term treatment, observation and ongoing assessment. The units have proven successful in improving patient flow and reducing emergency department wait times.

Hospital in the Home will receive a boost of $31.4 million to expand capacity and increase the use of virtual care. This funding will support a scaling up of services.

This enhancement will allow an estimated 3,500 additional patients to be cared for safely in the comfort of their home, rather than in a hospital bed, on top of the 5,300 currently cared for under this program each year.

The relief package also funds the creation of a new patient flow concierge role.

These roles will support clinical staff to facilitate patient flow and better co-ordinate the discharge processes. This will enhance patient communication and experience, including for patients awaiting discharge who are National Disability Insurance Scheme recipients or residential aged care residents.

The package also includes funding for new technology that will help clinical staff to identify patients who are suitable for discharge, earlier, allowing people to recover at home with appropriate supports.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“This is a must-have investment to relieve pressure on the state’s emergency departments and improve patient care.

“This Budget delivers on the Minns Government’s commitment to rebuild the NSW health system.  Better emergency departments will mean better results for people.

“This $480.7 million investment will mean hundreds of thousands of people can avoid a visit to an emergency department.  It saves sick or hurt people time and eases pressure on staff.

“NSW can afford to do this. By cutting the state’s debt, we have cut the state’s interest bill. It means we can use those savings to relieve some of the burden on our health system.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“Our emergency departments face significant challenges with record presentations, so we are making the necessary investments across a range of strategically important areas to relieve that pressure and provide more alternatives for the community.

“This $480.7 million ED relief package will be implemented and monitored in consultation with the ED Taskforce formed in December last year and seeks to improve the patient experience through more timely, person-centred care, but also to improve the experience of our hardworking healthcare staff.

“By introducing innovative models of care such as the ‘single front door’, we are building on the success of our virtual and urgent care services that bridge the gap between primary care and emergency care, and ultimately improving access to healthcare for people across NSW.

“In 2023, Healthdirect received more than 315,000 calls from the NSW public, of which only 35.5 per cent were referred to an ED, with the remaining callers connected to the right care, within the right timeframe.

“This included a range of services from primary care services such as GPs, community services, pharmacy support, virtualKIDS, virtualGP services or the NSW Ambulance Virtual Clinical Care Centre which can further triage callers such as those from Residential Aged Care Facilities.”

You herd it here first: goats are Sydney Metro’s latest employees, recruited for a special task at the Eastern Creek Precast Facility for Sydney Metro West.

The 20 Boer goats have made themselves at home at the purpose-built facility in Western Sydney, having been employed to graze away at the grass and vegetation surrounding the site. The herd includes 4 year old baachelors and kids as young as 1.

The goats will control weeds around the site, ripping them from their roots before they have a chance to flower and spread.  Their work means we can reduce noise and emissions from having to use machinery to manage the grass, and the environmental impact of using pesticides.

The herd will be on site for three weeks to get the weeds under control, before moving on to a new home. They will be safely fenced in, with access to fresh water and shade 24 hours a day, and workers will regularly check on their welfare.

The goats will be great company for the 570 workers on site as they work to produce more than 150,000 concrete segments for Sydney Metro West.

The facility is made up of three sheds for each tunnelling package, each with its own production line, and was purpose-built to produce tens of thousands of concrete segments for the new 24-kilometre metro line that will connect Greater Parramatta to the Sydney CBD.

The goats will primarily be located around the Eastern Tunnelling Package shed, which is in the early stages of production with more than 1,100 segments already produced.

Production and installation of segments for the Western and Central tunnelling packages are well advanced, with more than 23,700 segments installed in the tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park, and 45,000 segments installed in the tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and The Bays.

Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, transforming Sydney for generations to come.

Find out more about the Sydney Metro West project

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said:

“We’re pleased to welcome these goats as the newest members of our team. They have an important job to do for our transformational project.

“The goats provide a natural solution to the challenge of weed control and will reduce the environmental impact associated with using pesticides and other machinery.

“No ‘goats’, no glory in the landscaping game for these mega projects, and these star employees have got the job.” 

The NSW Government is ordering Hornsby Shire Council to repay $36 million that was provided under the Stronger Communities Fund, a fund that the Auditor General of NSW has described as “deficient” and “lacking integrity”.

The grant program was established in 2017 to support council amalgamations.

However, under the former government, 96% of grants were awarded to Coalition electorates, including to councils that never actually merged, like Hornsby Shire Council.

As part of this fund, in 2018, the former government awarded a $40 million grant in Round 2 of the Stronger Communities Fund for Hornsby Shire Council’s Westleigh Park project.

Since then, there have been significant delays in the delivery of the project and limited progress has been demonstrated, with most of the grant money yet to be spent.  

The NSW Government has therefore refused a request from Hornsby Council for an extension of time to utilise the unspent funds.

The Council will be required to pay back all unspent funds from the original $40 million grant, estimated to be more $36 million based on the latest report from Council.

This decision is based on recommendations from an independent inter-agency panel that assessed all council applications for variations to projects funded through the Liberal-Nationals Stronger Communities Fund.  

The Office of Local Government received 16 applications for variations from 10 councils.  

Of these, 12 have been approved. These councils asking for extensions of time have demonstrated that their projects are on-track.

Three requests were refused, including Hornsby’s request regarding the Westleigh Park project.  

The other two refusals included Federation Council, which requested permission to reallocate $83,889 remaining from a grant of $5.4 million to other projects, which is not permitted under the grant guidelines.  

Edward River Council also had a request to reallocate $10,000 in funding refused.  

A separate request from Hornsby Council for an extension of time to utilise a $50 million grant provided for its Hornsby Quarry project has been approved as construction has progressed significantly.  

Additionally, a request from Snowy Monaro Council regarding the delivery of a community centre funded by a grant of $200,000 will be reviewed further.  

Murray River Council also offered to voluntarily repay $131,147 in unspent funds from an almost $1.2 million grant it received in 2018.

Minister for Local Government, Ron Hoenig:

“The former Liberal-National government’s Stronger Communities Fund has been exposed as one of the most egregious examples of pork barrelling.    

“The fund was originally established to support councils which had been forcibly merged by the former government, yet Hornsby Shire Council received $90 million despite not being one of the amalgamated councils.  

“At a time when we are facing a cost-of-living crisis, every dollar counts.  

“Hornsby Council has had years to utilise this funding and the original deadline written into the grant guidelines has long passed.

“Where councils have not demonstrated sufficient progress on projects that received grant funding, the government will be recouping this money and ensuring it is reinvested where it’s needed most.”    

The Minns Labor Government is investing $274 million to boost staffing at new and upgraded hospitals across the state that were left without adequate staff by the previous government, as part of the 2024-25 NSW Budget.  

The Essential Health Services Fund will see an additional 250 healthcare workers engaged to work at these new and upgraded hospitals.  

The additional staff will be deployed at hospitals due to come online in the next financial year and will deliver additional services to communities with growing and aging populations.

These include Prince of Wales and the new Tweed Hospital, as well as Bowral, Sutherland, Wentworth, Cowra, Cooma, Glenn Innes and Griffith.    

Additional staff for Prince of Wales Hospital will support the new emergency department, intensive care unit and broader expansion of the hospital.  

The newly-opened Tweed Hospital will receive additional health workers to deliver an expansion of overnight and day beds as well as an increase of emergency department and outpatient services.  

Funding will also be provided across the state to increased demands from health services resulting from an ageing and growing population.

This investment will further the NSW Government’s existing initiatives to build an engaged, capable and supported workforce through:

• beginning to implement safe staffing levels,
• making 1112 temporary nurses permanent,
• delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics
• abolishing the wages cap; and
• introducing health worker study subsidies.
   

This is all part of the Minns Government’s plan to build a strong health workforce and improve access to quality care across the state.  

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“I’ve always said that there’s no point in delivering shiny new buildings if you don’t have the staff to adequately run them.  

“We can’t risk the situation left to us by the previous government of ‘ghost hospitals’ where funding was allocated for the bricks and mortar but not the additional health workers, nurses and doctors to operationalise services.

“For too long, the previous government underinvested in our health workers, and that left a workforce pushed to breaking point, and that had significant impacts that we still continue to see to this day.  

“We need a fully-staffed healthcare system that is responsive and well-resourced, because when we back in our health workers, we improve patient outcomes, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.” 

The NSW Government will work with private health insurers to ensure the correct payments are being made to public hospitals under reforms in the upcoming NSW Budget.

The NSW Government will work with private health insurers to ensure the correct payments are being made to public hospitals under reforms in the upcoming NSW Budget.

Under existing arrangements, some private health insurers are only paying half the daily cost of a bed rate for a private patient. The cost of this is borne directly by NSW Health.

This means almost $150 million was denied last year alone in private health insurance funds that should have gone back into the NSW health system to help pay for the services being provided.

With increasing pressure for healthcare services and record investment by the Minns Labor Government in the health system, these arrangements are unsustainable, and a reformed payment arrangement will ensure insurers pay their fair share of costs.

The government is prepared to give the industry 6 months to change its arrangements and contribute its fair share to the public hospital system – and appreciates the constructive engagement with private health insurers so far.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“Every dollar that private insurers are not paying is being picked up by taxpayers, and that comes at the expense of other investments NSW should be making.

“There are some private health funds that are paying the right rate, particularly the non-profit private health funds that look after our teachers and our nurses. That is right – it should be a level playing field for all.

“It’s good that underpaying funds are now at the table but we’re clear that we need this problem solved.  We’ve got about 6 months to sort it out but otherwise we are going to have to take action to ensure that these funds are paying their bills.”

Minister for Health, Ryan Park said:

“Our public hospitals are busier than ever before, and every dollar counts when it comes to investing in the essential health services that our communities deserve.

“I look forward to working with private health insurers to ensure funds are paying their fair share of public hospital costs.”

Disaster assistance is now available in the Camden, Kiama, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee and Wollongong Local Government Areas (LGAs) following the impact of flooding from 6 June 2024.

The assistance measures are being provided by the Australian and New South Wales Governments through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Support includes:

• Assistance for eligible residents to help meet immediate needs like emergency accommodation or small cash payments to purchase essential items generally provided from evacuation or recovery centres.
• Grants for eligible residents to replace lost essential household items to maintain basic standard of living.
• Grants for eligible residents to undertake essential structural repairs to restore their homes to a safe and habitable condition.
• Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets.
• Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers, and non-profit organisations and grants to sporting and recreation clubs to repair or replace damaged or destroyed property.
• Freight subsidies for primary producers to help transport livestock and fodder.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Senator the Honourable Murray Watt said the extent of the flooding impact is still being assessed.

“This event has caused widespread damage across communities, with flash flooding closing roads, cutting off communities and inundating homes,” Minister Watt said.

“The NSW Government is continuing to assess the situation and is adapting as we gain a clearer picture of the impact of this disaster, and the Australian Government stands ready to respond to any requests for assistance.”

NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said the NSW SES are out on the ground assessing damage and assisting communities.

“While the work continues to assess the impacts of these storms and floods, the NSW Government is working with the Australian Government to unlock assistance for communities that need help now,” Minister Dib said.

“Thank you to the NSW SES and all volunteers who have been working night and day to respond to this severe weather event.”

“We’re supporting these communities to recover from this severe weather event, given many were also impacted in April this year.”

Find information relating to financial assistance, replacing lost documents and other recovery support.

To apply for a concessional loan or primary producer grant, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593

Further information on disaster assistance can be found on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website.

Patients, paramedics, and emergency department staff will benefit from a $15.1 million nation-leading upgrade to the ambulance patient allocation matrix system which will help identify the most appropriate emergency department (ED) for patients to be transferred to.

Funded in the 2024-25 NSW Budget, the ambulance matrix is a dashboard that draws on live hospital data to help paramedics determine the nearest, most clinically appropriate ED for all patients arriving to a NSW hospital by ambulance.

The new matrix, known as the “NewGen Matrix”, will now be able to take into account capacity at nearby EDs, the patient’s clinical condition and travel times.

This means the system will assist paramedics in taking a patient to where they can be seen the quickest, not just the closest location.

More than 2000 patients who arrive to an ED by NSW Ambulance per year are also expected to avoid a secondary hospital transfer under the new dynamic matrix.

The current ambulance matrix is almost two decades old and relies on limited, static data inputs that means paramedics do not have visibility of potential delays at emergency departments.

The $15.1 million investment over 4 years will support the rollout across both metropolitan and rural NSW which is expected to commence late 2025.

This new matrix is part of the NSW Government’s ED relief package of more than $480 million over 4 years to further ease pressure on the state’s busy emergency departments.

The ED Relief Package will help avoid an estimated 300,000 visits to the ED each year, improving conditions for our hardworking frontline healthcare staff and connecting more people across NSW with high quality, accessible and timely care.

This is part of the NSW Government’s plan to build a strong health care system and ensure that every person can access the essential services they need.

Premier Chris Minns said:

“I’ve said it before – people are waiting too long to be seen in emergency departments.

“This is an important investment that will help our hardworking frontline staff deliver the care that people deserve, faster.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“Our hardworking paramedics and healthcare staff are currently under immense pressure with a record number of ambulance responses and ED presentations to our hospitals.

“This necessary upgrade will contribute to a range of initiatives in our ED Relief Package designed to improve patient flow across the system.

“This investment is about equipping our highly skilled paramedics with the latest tech to make their job easier and, importantly, ensure patients receive the most clinically appropriate care in a timely manner.

“This critical upgrade to the ambulance matrix will integrate live data from right across our public health system in real time to help paramedics transport patients to the ED that will be able to treat them as quickly and appropriately as possible.”