The number of patients stranded in Hunter hospitals waiting for aged care and NDIS placements has increased by more than 25 per cent in one year, as pressure continues to mount on the public system.
There were 138 people in public hospital beds across the district at the end of June 2025 who should have been either at home with support, or in an aged care bed.
As at June 30 2026, that number had climbed to 174.
The latest count includes 26 patients at John Hunter Hospital, which nurses say is short by 40 to 65 beds every day; 20 patients at Maitland Hospital, and 19 at the Calvary Mater, which continues to be plagued by a deadly mould problem.
Health ministers have raised the growing issue of bed block across the country with the federal government at a health ministers' roundtable in Canberra, citing an increase from 2700 patients in mid 2025 to more than 3600 a year later.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the number of people waiting for Commonwealth aged care and NDIS placements stranded in NSW hospitals was growing at an unprecedented and unsustainable level.
"In the Hunter, this means more than 170 beds in public hospitals cannot be used as a result," Mr Park said.
"Waiting indefinitely in a hospital is not good for patient mobility, recovery or quality of life. These people are more than statistics, and they deserve so much better.
At the same time, there are almost 100,000 people waiting for access to the new and struggling Support at Home program, which replaced an earlier program in November, delivering government-funded aged care services to support older people at home.
The federal government has stepped back from its original position by agreeing to extend the Commonwealth Home Support Program to mid-2029.
Meanwhile, those working on the front line in residential aged care are calling on the federal government to introduce mandated staffing ratios to the sector.
Members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) say they are "fed up" with the ongoing aged care crisis. They joined with counterparts from across the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) in Canberra on Tuesday September 8 to launch a national campaign.
NSWNMA general secretary Michael Whaites said the "Australia needs care you can count on" campaign will spotlight systemic issues that continue to impact the care nurses and carers can provide to older Australians.
"The aged care sector has seen some improvement in recent years, but it is far from being fixed," Mr Whaites said.
Reforms already in place were not lifting standards in the way they were designed to, Mr Whaites said, citing the fact that 'Care Minutes' - a mandatory minimum amount of time that qualified nursing staff must spend with each nursing home resident - was not being complied with.
"We need ratios to deliver better staffing and skill mix in aged care, safer workplaces to prevent workplace violence, and greater transparency of taxpayer funding," Mr Whaites said.
"These are all practical reforms that can help to build an aged care sector that works now and into the future.
"Older Australians, and their families, deserve to have care they can count on, and aged care workers deserve safe workplaces, where they have the support and time to provide that care."
The campaign follows the recent Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation national survey, which highlighted the critical issues facing front-line aged care workers.
Survey respondents described a sector that continues to battle systemic understaffing, increasing workplace violence, and a lack of accountability for billions in government funding.
Mr Park said the NSW government was working with the Commonwealth to expand services helping older people remain well and safely at home, reducing avoidable hospital presentations and admissions.
He cited two initiatives. First, the Expanding Aged Care Outreach Services (ACOS) to provide short-term multidisciplinary care in the home to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
And second, the rolling out of Virtual Specialist Geriatric Care to deliver specialist geriatric support to people aged 65 years and over at home.
Ultimately, however, in Australia's jointly funded health system, the accessibility of aged care services rests with the Commonwealth, Mr Park said.
South Australian Health Minister Blair Boyer said nationally, an additional 10,000 aged care beds were needed last year but only 800 came online, and the crisis was only going to get worse.
"The new beds we've added to the system are being taken up by aged care patients," Mr Boyer said.
"Older people should not have to spend weeks, months, or even years in some cases, in hospital waiting for aged care support - and we need the federal government to act now."
