A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW) examines how rates of access to elective surgery differ
between patient groups.
The report, Elective surgery in Australia: new measures of
access, found that people living in remote areas and those in
the more disadvantaged socioeconomic groups made use of
publicly-funded elective surgery at higher rates than other
people.
Conversely, people living in major cities and those in the more
advantaged socioeconomic groups had higher rates of
privately-funded elective surgery than other people.
Indigenous Australians overall had lower rates of elective
surgery (public and private combined); however, they had much
higher rates of admissions for publicly-funded elective heart,
vascular and eye surgery than other Australians.
The report also examined differences in waiting times between
patient groups. For 2004-05, the median waiting time for public
hospital elective surgery was 29 days.
'Waiting times varied by the remoteness of the patient's
residence, their socioeconomic group and reason for admission,'
said Jenny Hargreaves, Head of the Institute's Economics and Health
Services Group.
'Overall, people living in very remote areas waited longer for
elective surgery than people living in other areas, with a median
waiting time of 31 days,' she said.
Patients with a diagnosis of cancer or heart attacks had shorter
waiting periods for their surgery than patients with other
conditions who were having the same type of surgery.
Overall, patients with cancer diagnoses had median waiting times
15 days shorter than other patients.
'For example, patients with cancer waiting for eye surgery had a
median waiting time of 21 days, compared to 83 days for patients
with cataracts,' Ms Hargreaves said.
While overall there was no difference between the waiting times
between Indigenous Australians and other Australians, a few
procedures or surgical specialties did reveal differences in wait
times.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians had a shorter
median waiting time than other Australians for orthopaedic surgery
(27 days compared to 42 days for other patients).
However, within this group, Indigenous Australians had longer
waits for hip replacements (116 days compared to 91 days for other
Australians), and shorter waits for knee replacements (79 days
compared to 134 day for other Australians).
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Further information: Ms Jenny Hargreaves, AIHW,
02 6244 1121, mob. 0407 012 520.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for the availability of Elective surgery in
Australia: new measures of access.