00:02At work one afternoon last month a sudden wave of pain hit Adnan with such force he could barely stand.
00:09It almost felt like I was going to die any moment and that was mainly because of the shortness of
00:14breath.
00:15I was experiencing the sharp abdominal pains and then the fever.
00:19The sharp pain and shortness of breath was so intense the 25 year old went to Westmead Hospital's ED.
00:25It just felt like a zombie apocalypse. I know it's a bad description to say but all the seats were
00:31taken, people were on the floor, some people were standing.
00:35Adnan spent the next 23 hours waiting on a hard chair while health staff conducted tests.
00:42By 4pm the next day he left without being admitted or a diagnosis.
00:47They said to me very clearly that we do not have anything available right now.
00:51The latest figures show Westmead Hospital has the longest emergency department wait times of any hospital in Western Sydney.
00:59Less than half of patients who attend the ED start treatment on time.
01:03The average wait time is 6 hours and 30 minutes compared to the state average of 3 hours and 49
01:10minutes.
01:12The AMA says there's been a rise in sick patients arriving by ambulances.
01:17Those numbers of our critically unwell patients are growing quarter by quarter.
01:22That just puts more and more pressure on our emergency departments.
01:25New South Wales Health is blaming bed block, saying one in eight ED beds can't be used because a patient's
01:32stuck waiting for aged care and NDIS packages.
01:35We've increased staffing and we've increased beds at Westmead and we're going to continue to look at ways in which
01:42we can do more.
01:42The Western Sydney local health district says it's apologised to Adnan but pointed to record demand,
01:49with the hospital treating tens of thousands of patients each quarter.
01:53With the state election right around the corner, hospital wait times is now shaping up as a key voting issue.
02:00It's made me rethink who I do vote for.
02:03It's made me rethink who I do vote for.
