NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Brett Holmes said understaffing at aged care homes across the state had led to a rise in the number of residents hospitalised due to falls.

The problem was most evident at Concord Hospital, where 45 per cent of all patients presenting with hip fractures came from aged care according to a recent report. It also revealed that Wollongong and St George hospitals received a high proportion of aged care patients due to falls.

Mr Holmes said it was putting extra pressure on these already stretched public hospitals.

"It tells us there's not enough staff in our residential aged care homes to provide the level of support that would reduce the number of residents suffering falls leading to hip fractures," he said.

"Nurses and care staff are doing their best in impossible circumstances but too often they're run off their feet and cannot provide the safe level of care they want to give."

The 2018 Annual Report from the Australia and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry also revealed that Wollongong Hospital patients with hip fractures waited an average of 13 hours in the ED. And they incurred lengthy hospital stays, 11 days on average.

"One of the reasons many patients have longer hospital stays is that there's insufficient staff with the skills to undertake their rehabilitation at their aged care facilities," Mr Holmes said.

The issue was also highlighted in the NSWNMA's 2019 Aged Care Survey. It revealed that 94 per cent of aged care workers surveyed had transferred a resident to hospital for treatment after a fall in the past year alone.

Mr Holmes said three-quarters of those workers indicated those falls could have been avoided if minimum staff to resident ratios existed in their facility.

"A recent survey of our aged care members shows 43 per cent were employed in a facility with only one registered nurse per shift to care for 50 to 100 residents," he added.

"Eight per cent told us they had only one RN per shift for 100 to 150 residents and two per cent said they regularly had one RN for over 150 residents."

He said the union would continue to campaign for mandated minimum staff to resident ratios in the aged care sector to reduce falls, and improve other areas of care.