A healthcare worker says overcrowding at a hospital in Sydney's west is leading to patients dying in the waiting room.
The whistleblower, who works on the frontline at Westmead Hospital, explained how they felt like preparing for a shift was like "preparing for battle".
"I don't want to look another patient's relative in the eye and say they have died in our waiting room," the worker, whose identity is being concealed to protect their job, told 9News.
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"They have died because the emergency department was so overcrowded that patients we have already seen have not moved on and we can't treat new patients."
The worker said they had to be in the right mindset because they would often have to provide "substandard care in a corridor".
"You're going to be trying to resuscitate sick people in a space that is not designed to be used for that," the worker said.
The worker advised people to drive to Royal North Shore Hospital if they wanted to receive better care.
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"Even adding transport time, you would receive better care and a more private bed space than you do at Westmead Emergency," they said.
Meanwhile, a patient has described how she slept on the waiting room floor for hours while receiving fluid intravenously.
Josephine Lord was suffering a fever and having trouble breathing.
The 67-year-old grandmother was assessed as sick enough to be admitted to hospital but was instead left for 15 hours in the same area.
"It's at that point I'm thinking, am I in trouble here?" Lord said as she recounted the incident.
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Lord was sitting on a plastic chair for the whole night and had nearly been awake for 24 hours.
The Winston Hills grandmother was then moved to a temporary bed and forced to stay in the emergency department for three days as doctors told her they had no beds left.
A leaked snapshot of one weekday at Westmead Hospital in May shows 21 patients were in the emergency department for 20 hours and one of them for nearly two days after waiting 41 hours for a bed in the hospital.
Health Minister Ryan Park said clearly the system had to do better.
"A laser-like focus on making sure we have adequately staffed hospitals is what my focus will be in the months and year ahead," Park said.
Western Sydney Local Health District chief executive Graham Loy said Westmead Hospital had experienced patient loads in the emergency department.
"We sincerely apologise to anyone who may have experienced a long wait time in our emergency department (ED)," Loy said.
"Westmead Hospital has experienced a high volume of patients presenting to the ED in recent months.
"Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) is working hard to improve the way we manage patient demand, increase staffing levels and invest in programs to provide alternative pathways for urgent care and ease pressure on our emergency departments.
"The inTouch service, a program which provides an alternate pathway for aged care patients to receive urgent care outside of the ED commenced in April 2022.
"This program has now helped more than 1000 aged care residents avoid presentation in emergency departments.
"We have increased staffing in the ED at Westmead Hospital over the last 12 months with 20 full-time employment nurses and an additional five full-time employment Senior Staff Specialists.
"Our dedicated staff are working to deliver urgent care in a timely and appropriate manner.
"These frontline staff are passionate and committed to our patients, and we thank them for their continuous hard work.
"WSLHD reminds the community to support us by saving emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives.
"If an illness or injury is not serious or life- threatening, we encourage people to call Healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222, for a 24-hour telephone health."
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