RNSH urgently needs more funds: NSW Labor THE NSW opposition has warned patients at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital could suffer because of a budget shortfall and extra funding is urgently needed. The RNSH has an occupancy rate of 97 per cent for acute beds, opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald says, blaming the increase in occupancy rates on drastic budget cuts. "Once your occupancy is above 85 per cent there's an increased rate of adverse events," he told reporters on Saturday. Problems at the hospital can be resolved simply by injecting some cash, Dr McDonald said. "If you properly fund and staff hospitals people can get seen on time," he said. If you don't properly fund and staff your hospitals the queues build up... a) things go wrong and b) it takes longer to see the patients. NSW Health minister Jillian Skinner said she was disappointed by the budget overrun at RNSH, but was confident the hospital "is doing all it can to fix its budget issues." "There is enough capacity at Royal North Shore Hospital to meet the needs of patients today and into the future," she said. Ms Skinner said an additional clinical services building was being built at the hospital "to provide 60 more beds, a whole maternity unit and a mental health unit." The government has set a target for 90 per cent of emergency ward patients to be treated and discharged within four hours. Dr McDonald said the O'Farrell government's health budget was having an adverse affect of treating patients. "If costs go up by eight per cent a year and the budget by five per cent a year frontline services suffer," he said. This is clear evidence that if you cut $3 billion from the system it's the patients who suffer.