The New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, has urged the public to avoid emergency departments unless their life is at risk, after Sydney hospitals recorded their busiest winter day ever. Just under 10,000 people presented to emergency departments in Sydney on Monday, around 1,000 more than the average, marking the “biggest ever recorded winter day in history”.
Record demand and ambulance callouts
Park said west and south-west Sydney were the hardest hit, with 4,100 ambulance callouts, which was “far more” than predicted. The state government has announced a permanent command centre to coordinate peak hospital demands this winter, working with local health districts and NSW ambulance to redirect patients away from busy EDs.
Operational hours for some hospital services will also be extended later in the day and on weekends. Park noted that presentations for influenza, Covid, and RSV are expected to continue over the coming weeks.
Public advice and alternative services
“There is no need to go to an emergency department unless it is an emergency,” Park said, urging people to use Healthdirect, a phone service connecting users to registered nurses, or urgent care services that typically operate from 8am to 8pm. The government is considering extending these hours.
The latest respiratory surveillance report from NSW Health, for the week ending 25 July, found influenza and RSV at a “moderate level” and Covid-19 at a “low level”. ED presentations for influenza were around 400, well below a peak of more than 1,000 in July 2025 but an increase on recent weeks. There were 2,509 notified cases of influenza, which health authorities expected to grow.
Vaccine hesitancy and hospital pressures
Park told ABC Radio Sydney that vaccine hesitancy had exacerbated the situation, with challenges in encouraging influenza vaccination uptake. “We have had vaccine hesitancy off the back of Covid … and this is what health systems are dealing with, not just in our country, but around the world,” he said.
He also criticised the NDIS, claiming 1,300 people were “stuck in our state’s hospitals who are aged care or NDIS [patients]”. An emergency director from Westmead highlighted the frustration of trying to discharge patients back into the community.
Premier warns of worst weeks ahead
NSW premier Chris Minns told 2GB that emergency health services were bracing for the “worst three weeks of the year”. “The cold weather’s really set in now. And I’ve spoken to emergency departments in Maitland, in Cessnock, in Western Sydney … who have said it’s a late starting season, but it’s hitting us hard now,” he said.
He advised people to use urgent care clinics or see a GP if possible, adding that resuscitation bays were “all occupied”. “It’s that serious,” he said, urging anyone with suspicion their life might be in danger to go to the emergency department or call 000.
Frontline staff and systemic issues
An anonymous ED nurse at a major Sydney hospital described Monday as “extremely busy”, with wait times of up to 10 hours. She urged people without severe emergencies to visit urgent care clinics but noted that “people don’t know it’s available”. “Work needs to be done with GPs and primary health networks on what their responsibility is,” she said. “We aren’t an outpatient clinic.”
Minns attributed part of the problem to historical “underinvestment” in health infrastructure, particularly in Western Sydney. “We’ve done a massive redevelopment of Westmead [Hospital], but the pressures are real,” he said.
Latest data from the Bureau of Health Information showed 791,987 ED attendees in NSW hospitals from January to March, up 0.9% compared with the same quarter the previous year. Opposition leader Kellie Sloane called it a “shocking state of affairs” for the government to tell people not to go to emergency departments “unless you absolutely have to”.
Dr Fred Betros, president of the NSW Australian Medical Association, said it wasn’t an “unforeseen crisis”. “Telling patients to stay away from emergency departments is not a health strategy,” he said. “NSW needs more consultant doctors, properly staffed beds, modern industrial arrangements … and serious investment in prevention, general practice and public outpatient care.”
