Blocked access and overcrowding in hospital emergency departments is a growing problem across NSW, with some patients waiting up to 36 hours to be admitted, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

Pressures on NSW emergency departments “have been on an increasing trajectory for decades” but are now a “permanent state of being”, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine president Clare Skinner says.

She says there is now a crisis in the system, describing COVID-19 as “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

Emergency medicine experts are being quizzed on Wednesday at the upper house inquiry about bottlenecks at public hospitals and widespread ramping of ambulances, as hospitals remain under pandemic stress.

Dr Skinner says some patients are forced to wait up to 36 hours after presenting to emergency departments to secure a hospital bed.

A patient’s chance of death lifted 10 per cent if they waited more than eight hours in an ED, Dr Skinner told the inquiry.

ED access block was not only harming patient outcomes, but was also impacting healthcare workers, especially senior nurses, she said.

“Access block is the biggest cause of stress, poor morale and burnout in their work,” she said.

James Gray from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and John Bruning, CEO of the Australasian College of Paramedicine, are also set to give their perspective on the crisis.

The Labor opposition announced the inquiry in July, saying it was required to take a comprehensive view of the issues facing the state’s hospitals.

It comes after the latest Bureau of Health Information quarterly report revealed patients waited longer in EDs and faced unprecedented waiting times for ambulances between January and March.

Two senior specialist emergency doctors set to appear at the inquiry have previously said western Sydney emergency departments are under constant strain from overcrowding.

– AAP