Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
MENU
Skip Navigation LinksHome Legislative Council House Business Papers

Question and Answer Tracking Details

4889 - Health - PATIENT TRANSFERS IN NEW ENGLAND HOSPITALS

MacDonald, Aileen to the Minister for Finance, Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement, and Minister for Natural Resources representing the Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health, and Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast

(1) In the 2023–24 and 2024–25 financial years to date, how many patients were transferred from hospitals or health services within the New England region to another hospital or health facility located in a different town or locality, broken down by:

(a) hospital of origin?

(b) destination hospital or facility?

(c) Local Health District?

(2) For each transfer referred to in Question 1, what was the primary reason for transfer, categorised as:

(a) specialist or tertiary care requirement?

(b) critical care requirement?

(c) lack of local bed availability?

(d) workforce shortages?

(e) diagnostic access (including imaging)?

(f) other (please specify)?

(3) What modes of transport were used for those transfers, broken down by:

(a) road ambulance?

(b) air ambulance or rescue helicopter?

(c) fixed-wing aircraft?

(d)  patient transport service?

(e) private transport?

(f) other?

(4) How many patients transferred from a New England hospital were discharged from a different town or locality than their place of original admission during that same period?

 

(5) Of the patients discharged in a different town or locality:

(a) how many were provided with transport assistance to return to their home town?

(b) how many were not provided with transport assistance?

(c) what policy or guidelines governed that decision-making?

(6) Does NSW Health or Hunter New England Health maintain a centralised patient transfer or “patient flow” system that records patient transfers and movements?

(a) If yes, what data fields are captured?

(b) Are reports able to be generated from this system?

(c) If no reports are generated, why not?

(7) What was the total cost to NSW Health of patient transfers originating from the New England region in the periods listed below, broken down by mode of transport:

(a) 2022–23?

(b) 2023–24?

(c) 2024–25 to date?

(8) Are there any current policy documents, guidelines or staff instructions that specifically address:

(a) inter-town patient transfers for non-specialist care?

(b) post-discharge transport for patients discharged away from their home town?

(i) If so, will the Minister table those documents?
Answer -

I'm advised:

The information requested is not held in a single dataset.

The Patient Flow Portal is used to manage patient flow and care coordination across the health network. Further information is available on the NSW Health website.

The following NSW Health policy directives provide guidance on patient transfers and are publicly available on the NSW Health website:

  • Adult Critical and Specialist Care Inter-Hospital Transfer (PD2025-002)
  • NSW Paediatric Clinical Care and Inter-Hospital Transfer Arrangements (PD2023_019)
  • Admission to Discharge Care Coordination (PD2022_012)

Question asked on 12 January 2026 (session 58-1) and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 655
Answer received on 3 February 2026 and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 670

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.