If you or a loved one has ever faced a cancer diagnosis, you know how crucial every day can be. But what happens when the very system meant to help us is so stretched that patients are left waiting months—sometimes up to a year—just for a diagnosis?
That’s the alarming reality now coming to light in one of Australia’s major public health facilities, and it’s a wake-up call for all of us.
Recent revelations, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, have exposed that cancer patients at Westmead in Sydney are enduring wait times of up to 12 months for a diagnosis.
The Doctors Union (ASMOF) has described this as evidence that the NSW health system is not just under pressure—it’s ‘beyond breaking point’.
According to Andrew Holland, ASMOF New South Wales (NSW) executive director, these delays aren’t due to a lack of effort from doctors or nurses.
Instead, he said, ‘They happen because the system they work in has been stripped bare. This is the cost of inaction.’
While the Westmead situation is shocking, it’s not unique. Doctors across NSW have warned for years that chronic understaffing, lack of resources, and unsustainable working conditions would eventually lead to this kind of crisis.
‘The revelations at Westmead are devastating, but they’re not new,’ Holland said.
‘Doctors have warned that without enough staff, capacity, and support, patients would be left waiting, and that would impact their care. Now the public is seeing what that looks like.’
For cancer patients, time is everything. Early diagnosis can mean the difference between a treatable illness and a terminal one.
Delays of months—or even weeks—can have devastating consequences for patients and their families. Imagine the anxiety of waiting, not knowing, and feeling helpless as the clock ticks on.
Why is this happening?
The root causes are complex, but the main issues are clear: insufficient doctors, support staff, or investment in the system.
The government’s response so far has been to promise more reviews, inquiries, and working groups.
But as Holland pointed out, ‘You can’t treat cancer with a media release. You can’t run a hospital system on the goodwill of exhausted clinicians.’
Doctors are burning out, and many are leaving the public system altogether. The union argues that NSW will continue losing talented clinicians to other states or overseas unless pay and working conditions improve.
The message from frontline doctors is simple: action, not words. They’re calling for immediate investment in staffing, better pay and conditions, and a commitment to building a health system that can meet patients’ needs.
‘Our members are committed to caring for patients, but they are being pushed to breaking point by unsustainable working conditions,’ Holland said.
‘This isn’t a health system under pressure, it’s a health system breaking down. Doctors have done their part. It’s time the NSW Government did theirs.’
And if you’ve experienced delays or challenges in the health system, we want to hear from you. Have you or a loved one faced long waits for cancer care or other critical services? How did it affect you? What changes would you like to see?
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Your voice matters—and together, we can push for the changes our health system desperately needs.
Also read: Radical screening revamp—could this move rewrite men’s cancer survival odds?
Health / Hospital Funding Australia wide needs to brought up to standard, lack of sufficient Government Funding over Decades has left the whole system not fit for purpose, and needing Billions of Dollars injected into the System just to meet it’s current requirements !!!
It’s both States & Federal Governments that are to blame (irrespective of Political Party) !!