For the first time since 2018, the number of people on the elective surgery waiting list has dropped below 9,000 – a key sign that the Tasmanian Liberal Government’s strong investment to drive down the elective surgery waiting list is working.
The elective surgery waiting list fell from 10,706 people in August 2021 to 8,935 in August 2022, a reduction of 16.5 per cent over the past 12 months and a total waitlist reduction of 31.5 per cent since it peaked at 12,286 in January 2021. In the same period, it is pleasing to see that the percentage of patients treated within recommended time frames has also risen from 54 per cent to 62 per cent.
To reduce the waitlist, in 2021 we began implementing our $196.4 million Statewide Elective Surgery Four Year Plan to deliver around 30,000 extra elective surgeries and endoscopies over four years, which is helping more Tasmanians receive elective surgery procedures within clinically recommended times.
Importantly, our clinician-led, patient-focused Plan will deliver additional surgeries over the four years of the Plan, to reduce our elective surgery waiting list to a sustainable level by 2025.
And the first year results show that our Plan is working with a record number of public patients - 20,314 Tasmanians – receiving an elective procedure during 2021-22. During this time, the Tasmanian Health Service delivered its highest ever number of surgeries in any financial year with an increase of 11 per cent on surgeries performed in 2020‑21, and 35 per cent more activity than we did in 2019‑20.
The additional surgical activity that our hospital staff have successfully delivered in the last year is a huge achievement – especially while managing COVID-related impacts in our hospitals.
Despite the pandemic, Tasmania is one of only two states to achieve a reduction in their elective surgery waiting list over the past year, with Tasmania reducing the waiting list by 16.5 per cent, the other being South Australia which managed a 3 per cent reduction.
I give my personal thanks to our hardworking surgeons, nurses and support staff who have worked tirelessly over the past year to deliver the highest volume of surgery to public patients of any year on record.
It is because of their hard work that more Tasmanians are receiving the care they need, sooner.
We know there is still more to do. Behind every case is a person requiring care, and we must continue to do better.
Our focus on health is reflected in the fact that we’re investing $11.2 billion in funding for health over four years which represents 33.6 per cent – or one-third of the Budget’s total operating expenditure.
We will continue to work hard and implement our Statewide Elective Surgery Four Year Plan, to ensure that more Tasmanians get their elective surgery within clinically recommended timeframes.