The Hodgman Liberal Government is addressing Tasmania’s long elective surgery waiting list as a priority – and this is showing significant results with a record low number of patients on the waiting list for elective surgery and a record low number of patients waiting for more than the clinically recommended time.
By November 2016 we had reduced the waiting list to 5744 patients – the lowest ever, and at the same time also reduced the wait time for those waiting longer than clinically recommended to 997 patients.
The latest results at the end of May 2017 show that since March 2017, the number of patients on the waiting list sat at 5940 and the number waiting beyond clinically recommended sat at 1020.
There was a massive 18.5 per cent increase in the number of admissions, from 16,759 in the 12 months to March 31 2016, to 19,877 in the 12 months to March 31 2017.
Our strategy to meet the needs of patients who have waited the longest for surgery is showing clear signs of success, with the average number of over- boundary days reducing from 196 at the end of March 2016 to 66 at the end of March 2017.
Our election commitment to rebuild our health services includes $76 million for elective surgery to ensure the Tasmanian Health Service had additional beds, ICU and staffing capacity to address the waiting list.
This has been topped up with a further $14.3 million for additional elective surgery and other procedures, including 1500 endoscopy and 500 ophthalmology procedures.
The Hodgman Government will continue to address elective surgery wait times by rebuilding our public hospitals capacity and using targeted funding, allowing Tasmanians that have waited too long for surgery to finally have their operations.