Sydney hospitals get $860m upgrades, Berejiklian announces
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has committed nearly $1 billion towards upgrading St George and Ryde hospitals and slashing elective surgery waiting times.
Ms Berejiklian on Monday announced her government would invest $385 million on Kogarah's St George Hospital and $479 million on Ryde Hospital in Eastwood to improve healthcare and provide more beds.
With the March 23 election looming, she also announced if re-elected her government would spend $31 million over four years to deliver an extra 10,000 cataract surgeries and another $45 million to deliver 800 additional paediatric operations.
“These record investments in our health system wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for our strong budget position ... we’re not just spending billions in building the hospitals but billions on staffing the hospitals,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said she hopes the $31 million would reduce the waiting list for cataract surgeries and the time patients have to wait between surgeries for each eye.
One-third of people aged over 65 have clinically significant cataracts, affecting their ability to live independently and avoid falls.
Some patients have to wait more than a year between operations.
The funding would allow hospitals to hire 46 clinical staff including nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists, boosting their capacity to perform more surgeries.
About 97 per cent of paediatric surgery in NSW is performed on-time, but the government hopes the extra $45 million will reduce waiting times and get children back to their normal lives sooner.
The funding will allow hospitals to hire 10 more doctors and 25 more nurses.
“We want to remove any obstacles to a child’s social and learning development and get them back home as quick as we can,” Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
“Surgeries to remove tonsils, grommets and adenoids which are usually classified as semi and non-urgent can also help kids overcome educational and behavioural issues.”
The funding is expected to reduce the time taken to receive non-urgent elective surgeries by about three months, and halve the time taken to receive semi-urgent elective surgeries.
Urgent elective surgeries are already performed as soon as possible.