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Elective surgery wait times continue to fall

June 2008

Patients listed for elective surgery at Perth’s public hospitals (including Joondalup and Peel Health Campuses) have on average waited 11 days less than those listed a year ago, with the median wait time at the end of June 2008 being 2.47 months or 75 days.

This compares with a five-month wait in June 2001.

At the end of June 2008 there were 11,997 patients on the elective surgery wait list at Perth’s public hospitals, 1,040 fewer than at the same time last year. There was a decrease of 330 patients on the waiting list at the end of June 2008 compared to the end of May 2008.

The figures are a significant improvement on seven years ago when almost 20,000 patients were waiting for elective surgery.

In June 2008 5,122 public patients were admitted for elective surgery in Perth hospitals.

The Department of Health continues to clear the backlog of people who have waited too long for their surgery.

Health services are currently prioritising category one patients and patients who have been waiting more than 365 days.

At the end of June 2008 the number of patients at metropolitan public hospitals waiting for more than 365 days was 408 compared to 402 at the same time last year.

The number of patients at the end of June waiting for more than 500 days was 65 compared to 86 at the same time last year, a reduction of 24.4%.

A number of initiatives have been introduced to help reduce wait lists, wait times for elective surgery and provide additional opportunities for surgery.

One of these is the Ambulatory Surgery Initiative, which has increased the number of patients undergoing day procedures. A total of 772 patients had their surgery under this initiative in WA public hospitals (including Peel Health Campus) in June 2008.

The State Government is paying private providers up to $20 million each year to provide 150 beds to accommodate and care for older patients and sub-acute patients with lower care needs.

This initiative will improve the flow of patients through EDs and will mean more beds are available for both medical and surgical patients.

WA Health is also working to increase the amount of surgery undertaken at all public hospitals through improved management of theatre lists and by scheduling surgery on weekends for high pressure areas such as neurosurgery and plastic surgery.

The Federal Government has committed an extra $15.4 million funding boost for elective surgery in WA.

This will allow a further 2,720 children and adults to have their elective surgery by the end of the year.

In particular, a greater number of children with ear, nose and throat and spinal problems will undergo surgery faster along with adults requiring orthopaedic, spinal or specialised breast surgery.

The extra surgery will be performed in hospitals such as PMH, Osborne Park and Kaleeya, along with several country hospitals.

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