04/08/2026
So sad patients are being blamed for the crisis in our emergency departments.
People are concerned for the health and wellbeing and it’s a given right if people feel so sick that they need hospital care and treatment.
No one chooses to spend hours sitting in an emergency waiting room unless they feel they have no other option. No one should be left lying on the floor waiting to be seen or treated. Every person deserves dignity, respect, and timely healthcare.
We keep hearing stories of people waiting 10, 12, or even more hours in emergency departments. That isn’t because Australians are doing the wrong thing—it’s because our public hospitals are overwhelmed. They simply don’t have enough nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, support staff, beds, or diagnostic equipment to meet the growing demand.
To our federal State governments: stop pointing fingers and start fixing the problem. Invest in our public hospitals. Employ more healthcare workers. Expand emergency departments. Increase hospital capacity. Make sure every hospital has the equipment and resources needed to diagnose and treat patients without dangerous delays.
People often say that those who aren’t “real emergencies” shouldn’t go to emergency. But healthcare isn’t that simple.
Many Australians can’t afford the cost of seeing a GP. Many GP clinics are fully booked for days or weeks. Even when people do see a GP, they are often referred to the emergency department for scans, blood tests, specialist assessment, or treatment that can’t be provided in a clinic.
Every Australian has the right to attend a public emergency department. It is free, and for many people it is the only healthcare they can access when they are sick or injured. What might not seem like an emergency to one person can feel like a frightening medical crisis to another.
Instead of blaming patients, let’s fix the gaps in the system. I would like to see every major hospital have an after-hours GP or urgent care clinic alongside its emergency department. That would give people with less serious conditions access to timely medical care while allowing emergency staff to focus on the most critical patients.
Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We should never accept people waiting on the floor for care or spending half a day in an emergency waiting room because our hospitals are under-resourced.
Healthcare is not a privilege—it is a basic right. Every Australian deserves safe, timely, and compassionate care. It’s time our governments treated it that way.
