If you have ever landed in a NSW emergency department with a small head injury, infection or during an allergic reaction, you are likely to have been transferred to a short stay unit.

These public hospital beds are treatment spaces for patients who need up to 24 hours of extra treatment after their initial emergency assessment, but there are not enough of the extremely in-demand beds.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has just announced a $130.7 million investment into Emergency Department Short Stay Units (EDSSU) for hospitals across the state.

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More than half a million patients were admitted to the state’s EDSSUs in the past two-and-a-half years.

The investment will allow an extra 22,000 patients to be treated in EDSSUs each year, helping those with semi-urgent conditions to get back home quicker without needing to be further admitted to a traditional ward.

The move is expected to improve patient flow and wait times, alleviating the strain on the state’s emergency departments.

At Westmead Hospital, there are currently 15 short stay units, but the Western Sydney facility is now set to get six more.

Campbelltown Hospital, Nepean Hospital, Maitland Hospital, John Hunter Hospital, St George Hospital and Wyong Hospital will additionally each get a share of 22 new treatment spaces. The locations of another eight new EDSSUs are yet to be determined.

“St George Hospital is one of the busiest in the state, and this investment will help more patients get the care they need sooner,” Member for Rockdale Steve Kamper said.

Relieving ‘constant and sustained pressure’

Minns said that EDs “are under constant and sustained pressure, regardless of the time of year”.

“The addition of the short stay units is expected to take some stress off our busiest EDs,” he said.

“At hospitals which already have a short stay unit in the ED we’re seeing patients with semi-urgent conditions treated and back home quicker without needing to be admitted to a traditional ward in most cases.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park blamed the need for such a big investment on a Coalition failure “to build enough hospitals and beds in some of the highest growth areas in the country”.

The EDSSU investment is part of a larger $11.9 billion commitment to delivering 32 new and upgraded hospitals and more than 2500 additional beds and treatment spaces across the state.