Emergency doctors warn of ‘terrifying’ crisis Australia is not prepared for
Emergency physicians in Australia are warning of a critical crisis as hospitals struggle to manage a surge in elderly patients. Projections indicate a massive increase in patients over 85 by 2050, threatening to overwhelm current emergency department capacity.
Why it matters
The report underscores a systemic failure in healthcare infrastructure to accommodate an aging population, leading to dangerous delays in patient care.
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Share A A A Australia’s health system is unprepared for the growing number of older patients arriving in emergency departments as elderly and frail patients are left in hospital corridors to deteriorate as they wait for a bed, emergency physicians warn.
Emergency departments (EDs) will brace for a 411 per cent increase in patients aged 85 and over by 2050, the latest Australasian College of Emergency Medicine’s State of Emergency 2026 report revealed.
College president Dr Peter Allely said it was terrifying: “We’re only at the beginning of the exponential curve. We are not prepared for this.”
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