The state received less than 10 per cent of the $1.45 billion earmarked for hospital infrastructure and other health projects of "national significance", despite being home to one-third of the Australian population.

The Rees Government also failed to dent Victoria's dominance of science and medical research. For the next six years NSW was allocated $30 million less than its southern rival for state-of-the-art clinical and academic facilities.

In the November mini-budget, the State Government deferred a number of health capital works and said their go-ahead would be contingent on federal infrastructure funding.

But just as NSW was snubbed last week in the division of the $8.5 billion national building program, for urgent road and rail projects, so other states grabbed a much larger slice of the health and hospital funding pie.

Western Australia was awarded $452 million to modernise or construct four facilities and Queensland received $430 million to expand Townsville and Rockhampton hospitals and establish an oral health centre. NSW received just $141 million to expand Nepean Hospital, build a clinical school at Blacktown and merge hospital, primary and community health services in Narrabri.

The president of the Australian Medical Association (NSW), Brian Morton, said the State Government had tried to pass the buck for upgrading and maintaining public hospitals.

"NSW needs a long-term infrastructure plan that is not rolled over from year to year and is not dependent on one-off federal government handouts," he said.

The state and federal health ministers, John Della Bosca and Nicola Roxon, denied NSW had missed out because of inadequate submissions by the Rees Government, and pointed to the $170 million granted for cancer infrastructure.

The state Opposition spokeswoman on health, Jillian Skinner, said a number of long-awaited projects such as the northern beaches hospital would gather dust on Mr Della Bosca's desk.

"If his relationship is so good with the current Federal Government, as he often claims, why has he failed families, doctors and nurses in NSW to get Kevin Rudd to give funds to build these projects?"