Admissions by intended procedure

The intended procedure describes the type of surgery for which a patient has been placed on a public hospital elective surgery waiting list for planned surgery. In some instances, the intended procedure may not reflect what was performed during the hospitalisation. 

Explore the data

Explore the number of admissions from elective surgery waiting lists for 15 selected intended procedures and ‘other’ procedures for 2024–25 and recent years. The 15 intended procedures selected were previously known as indicator procedures, chosen due to their typically high volume of admissions and long wait times.

Nationally, in 2024–25:

• the 15 selected intended procedures accounted for 34% of admissions from elective surgery waiting lists
• Cataract extraction was the most common intended procedure (87,800 admissions – accounting for 11% of all admissions from elective surgery waiting lists), followed by Cystoscopy (57,300 admissions, 7.2%). 

Changes over time

• The number of admissions for 7 of the 15 selected intended procedures increased in 2024–25 compared with 2023–24. 
• The 3 procedures with the largest increases in admissions between 2023–24 and 2024–25 were: Haemorrhoidectomy (which saw a 13% increase), Cataract extraction (4.6% increase) and Coronary artery bypass graft (3.5% increase). 
• Over the longer-term, between 2020–21 and 2024–25, the greatest increases in admissions were for Myringotomy (which increased on average each year by 7.0%), Cataract extraction (4.7%) and Haemorrhoidectomy (1.9%).
• The 3 procedures with the largest decrease in admissions between 2023–24 and 2024–25 were: Varicose veins treatment (which saw a 9.2% decrease) and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty (7.4% decrease) and Septoplasty (5.8% decrease). 
• Between 2020–21 and 2024–25, 7 of the 15 selected intended procedures had a decrease in the number of admissions, with Cystoscopy and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty having the largest average annual decreases (4.0% and 3.8%, respectively).