The number of people who walk out of emergency departments untreated in NSW hospitals is growing at an alarming rate, the NSW Opposition says.
NSW Opposition Health Spokeswoman Jillian Skinner referred to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, Australian Hospital Statistics, in a statement released.
"Last year 97,956 emergency patients in NSW did not wait to be attended by a heath care professional," Ms Skinner said.
"That's 19,000 more than two years ago and the picture is even worse this year with 50,000 patients walking out in the first three months," she said.
"It shows that on Reba's Meagher's watch as (NSW) health minister, patients, who should be getting treatment, are giving up because the waits are just too long.
"It's a measure of Reba Meagher's incompetence that she ignores (the advice of) health professionals while patients are deciding it's not worth their while to spend another minute in the emergency department," she said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Meagher's office told AAP that Ms Skinner has her facts wrong and "is doing nothing but fear mongering".
"The fact is that NSW compares well to other states ... on the volume of people going through emergency departments," she said.
"The reasons that people leave emergency departments after being triaged involves a whole variety of factors including that they can get care better in a primary care setting rather than in a hospital."
