Admitted patient care

Admitted patients are people who undergo a formal admission process in a public or private hospital to receive treatment and/or care. The types of care provided include surgical care, medical care, intensive care, newborn care, rehabilitation care, palliative care, and mental health care.

Explore more details on the care provided to admitted patients (hospitalisations) via the links beside the green icons at the bottom of the page.

In 2024–25:

Source: AIHW NHMD

In 2024–25:

  • 674 public hospitals provided admitted patient care services
  • there were 12.8 million hospitalisations – a rate of 416 hospitalisations per 1,000 population
  • there were 34.3 million days of patient care
  • the average length of stay was 2.7 days
  • 91% of hospitalisations were classified as episodes of Acute care
  • nearly 1 in 4 (23%, 1.8 million) same-day acute hospitalisations in all hospitals were for Care involving dialysis
  • people aged 65 and over accounted for 45% of hospitalisations and 52% of patient days.

Note that a number of data tables and webpages for this release include comparisons of hospital characteristics over the last 5 years (that is, 2020–21 to 2024–25). This includes the period in which COVID-19 appeared in Australia, which had significant disruptive effects on the health system – including hospitals. This was the result of: 

  • planned restrictions – for example, limitations on elective surgeries in the early stages of the pandemic to preserve hospital resources and reduce the spread of infection, and 
  • unplanned disruptions – for example, due to the need for hospital staff to isolate following exposure to infectious cases.

This should be taken into consideration when viewing any data presenting trends over time.

Changes over time

Over the 5 years to 2024–25:

  • the number of hospitalisations increased from 11.8 million to 12.8 million
  • the rate of hospitalisation decreased from 418 per 1,000 population to 416 per 1,000 population
  • the number of patient days increased from 31.2 million patient days to 34.3 million patient days
  • the average length of stay increased from 2.6 to 2.7 days.

Latest data