Record numbers of patients are flooding NSW emergency departments, as hospitals and ambulance services struggle to treat the rising tide of sicker, more complex patients on time.

Westmead Hospital’s emergency department reported the worst treatment times for the second quarter in a row, as staff dealt with an influx of critically ill patients, the latest NSW hospital data shows.

Record numbers of patients are flooding NSW emergency departments. Credit:Damian Shaw

The EDs are busier than ever, with almost three quarters of a million (749,504) attendances between October and December 2018, almost 25,000 more patients compared to the same period in 2017, and almost a quarter of a million more than 2010, the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Quarterly report shows.

It’s a trend that is likely to continue with the swelling ageing population, particularly in Sydney’s west.