Inside Australia’s ‘worst emergency department’ where patients say they would rather die than be treated there

Traumatised patients said they would rather die than return to the emergency department of a Sydney hospital.

People who have had the misfortune of being admitted to the emergency department at Blacktown Hospital in western Sydney say they would rather be sent elsewhere.

Photos have emerged of patients lying stretched out on the waiting room floor, some waiting for more than four hours before they could be treated.

Despite its brand new emergency department, Blacktown Hospital is still one of the worst hospitals in the state, Bureau of Health Information statistics released on Wednesday showed.

The most recent quarterly figures show that the number of emergency room visits increased by 9.7 percent and the number of ambulance visits increased by 11.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2024.

New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said some people blame long wait times on “using the emergency department to access primary care”, when “our health system in this country was never designed that way”.

Opposition health spokesperson Kellie Sloane asked Park during Question Time whether the NSW health system had “bottomed out”, but he stressed that Blacktown was “a hospital with unprecedented demand”.

A chronically ill patient, George Evans from Rooty Hill, begged paramedics and doctors to take him to a hospital other than Blacktown if he needed care.

People who have spent time in the emergency room at Blacktown Hospital in western Sydney have said they would rather die at home than be sent there

Photos of patients stretched out on the waiting room floor show several people waiting for hours before receiving proper treatment at the hospital.

“I’m not going to Blacktown A&E, let me die. I’d rather die somewhere else or at home,” he said. told 7News.

Mr. Evans suffers from chronic heart and lung conditions that require frequent visits to the emergency room. His wife, Kaylene, has cared for him for 25 years.

“Blacktown Hospital is in crisis,” she said.

Dozens of other patients are said to have filed complaints against the hospital with the state health commission.

One patient was filmed complaining to the hospital, saying: ‘The whole healthcare system needs a kick up the backside.’

Dozens of patients have reportedly filed complaints against Blacktown Hospital with the NSW Healthcare Commission

During a separate press conference, Park assured NSW residents that “your government is listening to you”.

He argued that if it were easier to find a GP in NSW, perhaps the problem would be solved.

The minister said only the federal government, which is responsible for primary care, can help the state.

“It has never been harder to find a GP in NSW,” Park said.

But federal Health Minister Mark Butler said there was “nothing unique” about NSW.

“All the hospital systems in the country — frankly, all the hospital systems in the world right now — are under extraordinary pressure,” he said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW Health Commission and Western Sydney Local Health District for comment.