The number of people undergoing elective surgery in Australian public hospitals has reached a record high, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
In 2023-24, there were 771,600 admissions to waiting lists for elective surgical procedures in public hospitals, an increase of 5% on the previous year.
After a period of “considerable disruption” to the health system due to the COVID-19 pandemic, waiting times have also improved slightly, according to the AIHW.
But waiting times for some procedures have increased, and median wait times recorded by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 10 days higher than for other Australians.
These are the main procedures – and how long patients wait.
What is elective surgery?
Elective surgeries are procedures that are deemed medically necessary but do not result from an emergency presentation.
These are surgical procedures planned and booked in advance and are often subject to delays.
Elective surgeries include, but are not limited to, procedures such as cataract extractions, hysterectomies, prostatectomies, tonsillectomies, hip replacements, knee replacements, and varicose vein treatment.
Most elective surgeries in Australia are carried out in private hospitals, but a large number are also carried out by the public system.
What are the most common elective surgeries?
During the year 2023-2024, 20% of elective surgery admissions on waiting lists were for “general surgery” of the abdominal organs, including endocrine surgery and breast surgery.
Fifteen percent involved urological surgical procedures on organs of the urinary system such as the bladder, urethra and kidneys, while 14 percent involved ophthalmological operations on the eyes and optic nerves.
Cataract extraction made up 11 percent of procedures for people admitted to a waiting list for elective surgery.
The surgical specialty areas that saw the largest increase in admissions to elective surgery waiting lists were vascular surgery and pediatric surgery.
The largest increase in elective surgical admissions compared to 2022-23 was seen in the ACT and Victoria, with 19 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
The statistics do not include the Northern Territory, which has not yet finalized its data.
How long do patients wait for elective surgeries?
For almost all scheduled procedures, wait times have decreased compared to 2022-2023, but remain longer than in 2019-2020.
In 2023-24, 50 percent of patients were admitted for elective surgery within 46 days, compared to 49 days the previous year and 39 days in 2019-20.
But Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experienced longer wait times, with a median of 56 days.
The procedure whose wait times have decreased the most is that of total knee replacements, which went from 308 days in 2022-2023 to 265 days in 2023-2024. But the waiting time remains 42 days longer than five years ago.
Waiting times for some procedures have increased, with the average tonsillectomy patient now waiting 187 days for their surgery, compared to 174 days in 2022-23 and 133 days in 2019-20.
Patients waiting for a myringotomy – a type of eardrum surgery – have also experienced an increase in wait times, with an average of 88 days in 2023-2024. This represents an increase of six days from the previous year and 23 days more than five years ago.
In 2023-2024, 6.4 percent of patients waited more than a year before being admitted for elective surgery.
