The Minns Labor Government will establish the State’s first High Volume Planned Surgery Centre at Northern Beaches Hospital, expanding the hospital’s role and helping reduce surgery wait times across NSW.
From 1 July 2026, up to an extra 5,000 surgeries will be performed at the hospital each year through the newly established Planned Surgery Centre.
It will focus on high-demand specialties such as ophthalmology, orthopaedics, ear, nose and throat (ENT), general surgery and gynaecology, to help reduce surgical wait lists while easing demand on hospitals across the state and giving patients more choices in their care.
Patients will be referred to the Planned Surgery Hub from some of the busiest areas across NSW, including Western Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra.
Patients can be directly referred to the Centre by their treating specialist if they are accredited to work at Northern Beaches Hospital or can choose to be transferred from a waitlist at their ‘home’ facility.
Information on how to be referred to the NBH will be released ahead of the Centre’s opening.
The new Planned Surgery Centre builds on the Minns Labor Government’s decision to return Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership later this year, reversing one of the state’s most damaging privatisation experiments.
The hospital will come under the management of Northern Sydney Local Health District and part of NSW Health by mid-2026.
Under the agreement for transition of the hospital:
- The entire 494-bed hospital will return to public ownership
- All clinical and support staff currently working at Northern Beaches Hospital have been offered jobs by NSW Health at the facility, and
- Staff entitlements to annual, long service and sick leave will transfer across from Healthscope to NSW Health.
NSW Health appointed health sector leader David Swan to provide independent expert advice on future private health opportunities at Northern Beaches Hospital.
More than 1,800 existing Northern Beaches Hospital staff – including nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and support staff – have been offered roles with NSW Health at Northern Beaches, with offers to medical staff commencing in February 2026.
The Minns Labor Government continues to repair the damage caused by the former Coalition Government’s failed privatisation agenda, which also included the attempted privatisation of hospitals at Maitland, Wyong, Goulburn, Shellharbour and Bowral.
The passage of Joe’s Law now protects NSW communities from future privatisation of public hospitals.
Premier Chris Minns:
“This will improve access to healthcare by speeding up planned surgeries across the state.
“By adding a high-volume planned surgery centre, we’re increasing capacity across the whole system, reducing wait times and easing pressure on busy public hospitals.”
“We’ve brought Northern Beaches Hospital back into public hands, and now we’re expanding the services it can deliver for patients right across NSW.”
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey:
“This is the next step in reversing the Liberals’ epic privatisation failure at the Northern Beaches Hospital.
“This critical health service is being returned to what it should have been from the start – a publicly run facility that puts people before profit.
“This failed experiment cost $190 million to fix. It stands as a stark warning of the risks that come when the Liberals privatise essential services.”
Minister for Health Ryan Park:
“The aftermath of the Liberals’ legacy of privatisation has been seismic, and if they had it their way, five other hospitals around the state would have been subject to PPPs.
“It hasn’t been easy, but we have acquired this hospital in record time.
“Overdue surgeries peaked under the Liberals, and the health system has been working to reduce these as quickly as possible.
“I’m so pleased that the state’s new High Volume Planned Surgery Centre will boost our health system’s surgery capacity to help patients receive the care they need more quickly.
“This is a win for the Northern Beaches community and for patients right across NSW.
“With the establishment of the Centre, we will be able to offer thousands more patients each year the choice to have their surgery quicker, while providing some much-needed relief to hospitals around the state.”
Northern Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Adjunct Professor Anthony M. Schembri AM
“Northern Beaches Hospital boasts world-class surgical facilities and a wealth of surgical expertise.
“This Planned Surgery Centre will not only benefit the community of the Northern Beaches but patients right across the state who will experience quicker access to elective surgery.”