Elective surgery access

Waiting times data provides information about the length of time waited by patients on public hospital elective surgery waiting lists before being admitted for surgery.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore waiting times for elective surgery by hospital peer group and clinical urgency category of the surgery for 2021–22 and other recent years.

The data can also be explored by:

• Hospital (where data is available)
• Local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2021–22:

• the overall time within which 50% of patients were admitted (the median waiting time) was 40 days, and the time within which 90% of patients were admitted was 323 days
• 6.3% of patients waited more than 365 days for their surgery
• the 50th percentile (median) waiting time for patients admitted from waiting lists to Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals (29 days) was shorter than for smaller hospitals categorised as Public acute group A hospitals and Public acute group B hospitals (44 days and 56 days, respectively).

Changes over time

Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, decreases in the 50^th and 90^th percentile waiting times occurred across almost all states/territories.

50th percentile (median) waiting time

Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, the 50th percentile waiting time:

• decreased overall from 48 days to 40 days
• decreased for all public hospital peer groups except Other hospitals (not included in group A or B), which increased by 2 days.

Between 2017–18 and 2021–22, the 50th percentile waiting time:

• remained the same overall at 40 days
• increased for all public hospital peer groups except Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals, which decreased by 6 days.

90th percentile waiting time

Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, the 90th percentile waiting time:

• decreased overall from 348 days to 323 days
• decreased for all public hospital peer groups.

Between 2017–18 and 2021–22, the 90th percentile waiting time:

• decreased overall from 268 days to 323 days
• increased for all public hospital peer groups.

Patients who waited more than 365 days

Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, the proportion of patients who waited more than 365 days to be admitted decreased from 7.6% to 6.3%. Prior to 2020–21, this proportion fluctuated between 1.8% in 2017–18 to 2.8% in 2018–19.

Waiting times by clinical urgency category

When a patient is placed on a public hospital elective surgery waiting list, a clinical assessment is made to determine the urgency with which they require elective surgery (the clinically recommended time). The proportion of patients seen within the recommended time is the percentage of patients who were admitted for surgery within the clinically recommended time as defined by their clinical urgency category.

The ‘overdue wait’ is the amount of time spent waiting while overdue—that is, after 30, 90, or 365 days for clinical urgency categories 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The average overdue wait time (in days) is calculated for patients who were still waiting for their elective surgery as at 30 June 2022, who were ready for care, and who had waited beyond the recommended time.

Due to the lack of comparability of clinical urgency categories between states and territories, these data are presented for each state and territory separately.

In 2021–22, the proportion of patients admitted within the clinically recommended time was:

• for New South Wales; 83%
• for Victoria; 80%
• for Queensland; 85%
• for Western Australia; 81%
• for South Australia; 76%
• for Tasmania; 57%
• for the Australian Capital Territory; 78%
• for the Northern Territory; 68%.

In 2021–22, the average overdue wait time was:

• for New South Wales; 91 days
• for Victoria; 211 days
• for Queensland; 78 days
• for Western Australia; 96 days
• for South Australia; 86 days
• for Tasmania; 253 days
• for the Australian Capital Territory; 123 days
• for the Northern Territory; 310 days.

The surgical speciality describes the area of clinical expertise held by the doctor performing the elective surgery.

A range of restrictions and disruptions to elective surgeries occurred as a result of COVID-19 which has impacted elective surgery waiting times across most surgical specialties from 2019–20 to 2021–22. Prior to this, between 2016–17 and 2019–20, median waiting times for elective surgeries tended to remain relatively stable across most surgical specialties.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore elective surgery waiting times by surgical speciality for 2021–22 and for other recent years by:

• area of surgical specialty
• state and territory
• Local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• Hospital level (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2021–22:

• the surgical speciality with the highest median waiting time was Ophthalmology (107 days)
• the surgical specialty with the highest 90^th percentile waiting time was Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery (405 days)
• the surgical speciality with the lowest median and 90th percentile waiting time was Cardiothoracic surgery (18 days and 92 days, respectively)
• the surgical specialities that had the highest proportions of patients who waited more than 365 days to be admitted were Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery and Orthopaedic surgery (15% and 13%, respectively).

Changes over time

Between 2020–21 and 2021–22:

• the median waiting time decreased for 11 out of the 12 surgical specialties, excluding Cardio-thoracic surgery which remained the same at 18 days
• the 90^th percentile waiting time decreased for 10 out of the 12 surgical specialties, excluding Cardio-thoracic surgery which increased by 6 days from 86 days in 2020–21 to 92 days in 2021–22, and Other surgery which increased by 4 days from 133 days in 2020–21 to 137 days in 2021–22
• Neurosurgery median waiting times decreased from 37 days to 28 days
• Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery median waiting times decreased from 112 days to 84 days.

Waiting list statistics for intended surgical procedures can indicate performance in particular areas of elective surgery. Information on the types of elective surgery provided by public hospitals is shown by the intended surgical procedure, for selected procedures only.

A range of restrictions and disruptions to elective surgeries occurred as a result of COVID-19 which has impacted elective surgery waiting times across most procedures from 2019–20 to 2021–22. Prior to this, between 2016–17 and 2019–20, median waiting times for elective surgeries tended to remain relatively stable across most procedures.

Explore the data

In the data visualisations below, you can explore elective surgery waiting times for 2021–22 and other recent years by:

• a list of 15 selected intended procedures (also previously known as indicator procedures)
• state and territory
• Local Hospital Network (LHN), and hospital level (for all intended procedures).

Highlights

In 2021–22, for the 15 selected intended (indicator) procedures:

• Coronary artery bypass graft had the shortest median and 90^th percentile waiting times with 19 and 87 days respectively, and less than 0.1% of patients waited more than 365 days to receive this type of surgery.
• Septoplasty had the highest median waiting time with 315 days and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty had the highest 90^th percentile median waiting time with 525 days.

In 2021–22, for the top 25 intended procedures:

• Dialysis access surgery had the shortest median waiting time of 13 days and Breast lump excision and/or biopsy had the shortest 90^th percentile waiting times with 49 days. Both procedures had a proportion of patients waiting more than 365 days to receive this elective surgery of <1% (0.3% and 0.4% respectively).
• Septoplasty had the highest median waiting time with 315 days and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty had the highest 90^th percentile median waiting time with 525 days.

Changes over time

Between 2017–18 and 2021–22, for the 15 selected intended (indicator) procedures:

• Coronary artery bypass graft surgery consistently had the lowest waiting times across all of the waiting time measures
• Septoplasty consistently had the highest median waiting times and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty consistently had the highest 90^th percentile waiting time except for 2020–21 when waiting times for Septoplasty were 500 days
• Varicose vein treatment had the largest increase in median waiting time with 107 days, from 101 days in 2017–18 to 208 days in 2021–22 and Haemorrhoidectomy had the largest increase in 90^th percentile waiting time with 149 days from 190 days in 2017–18 to 339 days in 2021–22
• median waiting times for Cytoscopy remained the same at 24 days
• Coronary artery bypass graft surgery had the lowest increase in 90^th percentile waiting times of just 5 days from 82 days in 2017–18 to 87 days in 2021–22.

The accessibility of public hospital elective surgery procedures can vary depending on the demographics of the patient. This section presents information on the variation of access to these services by demographic information for 2021–22, including information on the patient's:

• Indigenous status
• remoteness area of usual residence
• socioeconomic status of area of usual residence
• funding source.

Explore the data

In the data visualisations below, you can explore the impact of Indigenous status, remoteness and socioeconomic status on waiting times to admission from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists.

First Nations people

Waiting times

In 2021–22:

• there were 24,800 admissions (4.3%) from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists for patients who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• the time within which 50% of Indigenous Australians were admitted for their awaited procedure was greater than that for other Australians (52 days and 39 days, respectively)
• the greatest difference in the time within which 50% of patients were admitted was for Myringoplasty/tympanoplasty (182 days for Indigenous Australians, and 287 days for Other Australians)
• Cholecystectomy, Coronary artery bypass graft, Haemorrhoidectomy, Inguinal herniorrhaphy, Myringoplasty/tympanoplasty, Septoplasty, Large loop excision of the transformation zone cervix (LLETZ) all had shorter waiting times for Indigenous Australians.

Separation rates

A separation rate ratio (SRR) greater than 1.0 indicates that the separation rate for an intended procedure for Indigenous Australians was higher than for other Australians admitted for the same intended procedure.

In 2021–22:

• for 20 of the 25 intended procedures, the SRR indicate that the separation rates for Indigenous Australians were at least 50% higher than the rates for other Australians
• the highest SRR were for Myringoplasty/tympanoplasty (6.0, or 600% as high) and Coronary artery bypass graft (5.5, or 550% as high)
• the rates for Indigenous Australians were not notably different to the rates for other Australians for Septoplasty (1.0), Skin lesion—excision of (1.2), Inguinal herniotomy/herniorrhaphy (1.3), Prostate biopsy (1.3) and Breast lump —excision and/or biopsy (1.3).

Changes over time

From 2017–18 to 2021–22:

• the proportion of Indigenous Australians admitted from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists increased by 0.7% from 3.6% to 4.3%
• the difference in time within which 50% of Indigenous Australians were admitted for their awaited procedure compared to that of other Australians increased from 9 days (50 and 41 days respectively) to 13 days (52 and 39 days respectively).

Remoteness area of usual residence

In 2021–22, 62% of admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists were for patients living in Major cities, 24% for patients in Inner regional areas, and 12% for patients in Outer regional areas.

Waiting times

In 2021–22:

• the time within which 50% of patients were admitted for their awaited procedure varied by remoteness area of the patient’s usual residence, ranging from 34 days in Remote areas to 48 days in Outer regional areas
• for Cataract extraction, people from Very remote areas had the longest waiting time (50% admitted within 195 days), and people from Major cities had the shortest (50% admitted within 124 days).

Population rates

In 2021–22:

• people living in Remote areas had the highest rate of admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists (32 per 1,000 population), followed by Very remote (28 per 1,000), Outer regional (27 per 1,000) and Inner regional (25 per 1,000)
• Major cities had the lowest rate of admissions (18 per 1,000 population).

Changes over time

From 2017–18 to 2021–22:

• Outer regional areas still had the longest time within which 50% of patients were admitted for their awaited procedure – 44 days in 2017–18 and 48 days in 2021–22
• Remote areas still had the shortest time within which 50% of patients were admitted for their awaited procedure from 33 in 2017–18 and 34 days in 2021–22
• the rates of admission from elective surgery waiting lists decreased across all remoteness areas of usual residence.

Socioeconomic status of area of usual residence

In 2021–22, the rate of admissions from waiting lists was highest for people living in the lowest (most disadvantaged) socioeconomic area (25 per 1,000 population) and lowest for people living in the highest (least disadvantaged) socioeconomic area (13 per 1,000 population).

Waiting times

In 2021–22:

• the time within which 50% of patients were admitted ranged from 30 days for residents living in the highest socioeconomic area to 44 days for people living in the lowest socioeconomic area
• the intended procedure with the greatest variation in waiting times for residents by socioeconomic area was Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion), ranging from 111 days for highest socioeconomic area to 166 days for the lowest socioeconomic area.

Population rates

In 2021–22, people living in most disadvantaged socioeconomic area had three times or greater admission rates compared with people living in the highest socioeconomic areas for cataract extraction, cholecystectomy (open/laparoscopic), arthroscopy, carpal tunnel release and prostate biopsy.

Changes over time

From 2017–18 to 2021–22, the difference in time within which 50% of patients were admitted increased from 9 days (44 in most disadvantaged areas and 35 in least disadvantaged areas) to 14 days (44 in most disadvantaged areas and 30 in least disadvantaged areas).

Funding source

Waiting times varies by the funding source of the patient. This could be because of the differences in the type of surgery performed and in the urgency category assigned. In 2021–22 for admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists, 92% of hospitalisations in public hospitals were for Public patients, and 5.7% of hospitalisations were for patients who used Private health insurance to fund all or part of their admission.

Waiting times

In 2021–22, for the 25 most common intended procedures, the time in which 50% of patients were admitted for their awaited procedure was: 

• 42 days for Public patients, compared to 21 days for Private health insurance funded patients and 15 days for Other patients
• longer for Public patients than Private health insurance patients for all the 25 most common intended procedures and for all surgical specialities.

Patients with a cancer-related diagnosis often require more urgent admission from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists than patients awaiting surgery for other conditions. 

Explore the data

In the data visualisations below, you can explore 50th percentile waiting times for admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists for cancer-related principal diagnoses and by specialty of surgeon for 2021–22.

Highlights

In 2021–22:

• patients with a cancer-related principal diagnosis had shorter waiting times (at the 50th percentile) compared with patients waiting for surgery for other reasons (21 days and 56 days, respectively)
• for cancer-related orthopaedic surgeries, the median waiting times for publicly funded patients was more than twice that of patients with private health insurance (34 days and 15 days, respectively).

The time within which 50% of patients with a principal diagnosis of:

• Lung cancer were admitted for surgery was 13 days, with 90% of patients admitted for surgery within 33 days
• Breast cancer were admitted for surgery was 14 days, with 90% of patients admitted for surgery within 29 days
• Bladder cancer were admitted for surgery was 21 days, with 90% of patients admitted for surgery within 70 days
• Prostate cancer were admitted for surgery was 28 days, with 90% of patients admitted for surgery within 111 days.

Changes over time

In 2021–22, patients with a cancer-related diagnoses had the same median waiting time as in 2017–18 – 21 days. However, the waiting time for other diagnosis was lower in 2017–18 (50 days) compared with 2021–22 (56 days).