Indigenous eye health measures 2018

Measure 3.6.1: The median waiting time (or the number of days within which 50% of patients who completed their wait were admitted for cataract surgery) and the 90th percentile waiting time (or the number of days within which 90% of patients who completed their wait were admitted for cataract surgery).

The waiting times measures provide an indicator of access to cataract surgery for those on waiting lists managed by public hospitals.

• In 2016–17, there were 1,838 admissions from public hospitals waiting lists for elective cataract surgery for Indigenous Australians. The median waiting time for elective cataract surgery for Indigenous Australians was longer than that for non-Indigenous Australians (141 days and 89 days, respectively).
• Between 2014–15 and 2015–16, the median waiting time for elective cataract surgery for Indigenous Australians rose from 142 days to 152 days, and then dropped to 141 days in 2016–17.
  • Over the same period, the median waiting time for non-Indigenous Australians rose from 84 days to 93 days, then declined to 89 days.