Elective surgery

Elective surgery is planned surgery that can be booked in advance as a result of a specialist clinical assessment. Elective surgery is considered medically necessary, and may be required urgently, but is not conducted as a result of an emergency presentation.

Most elective surgeries performed in Australia are undertaken in private hospitals. However, the information presented in these pages provides an overview of elective surgery provided by public hospitals following the patient’s placement on a public hospital waiting list. The data on elective surgery waiting times is captured after the procedure is performed, so does not reflect the status of people currently waiting for surgery.

More data on public hospital elective surgery waiting lists can be found via the links at the bottom of the page.

Overview of elective surgery activity

The number of admissions from elective surgery waiting lists, and the additions to the elective surgery waiting list is lower compared to last year and the last five years.

In 2021–22:

• 623,000 patients were admitted for surgery from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists – a 17% decrease compared with 2020–21, and 16.9% decrease compared with 2017–18. The decrease in admissions in 2021–22 was likely due to restrictions implemented as part of the response to COVID-19 outbreaks throughout Australia and disruptions to hospital services as a result of COVID which affected staff and patients.
• 784,000 patients were added to elective surgery waiting lists – a 12% decrease compared with 2020–21, and a 10% decrease compared with 2017–18.
• 67,700 patients were removed from elective surgery waiting lists as they did not require or declined surgery – a 13% decrease when compared to 2020–21.
• 30,900 patients were removed from waiting lists because they were transferred to another hospital’s waiting list – a 12% decrease when compared to 2020–21.
• General surgery was the most common surgical specialty (21%), followed by Urological surgery (16%).
• Cataract extraction was the most common selected intended (indicator) procedure (9.3%), followed by Cystoscopy (8.3%).

Elective surgery waiting times

For almost all intended procedures waiting times decreased compared to the 2020–21, however, were the same or higher than that seen in 2017–18. It should be noted that waiting times were notably higher than usual in 2020–21. The was due to the restrictions put in place in 2019–20 on elective surgery (as part of the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic), which led to an increase in waiting times for most intended procedures in the following year.

In 2021–22:

• 50% of patients were admitted for elective surgery within 40 days, a decrease from 48 days in the previous year, but the same as that seen in 2017–18.
• The greatest decreases in median waiting times occurred for:
  • Tonsillectomy (85 days) – from 253 days in 2020–21 to 168 days in 2021–22. This is 41 days more compared with 5 years ago in 2017–18.
  • Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty (33 days) – from 292 days in 2020–21 to 259 days in 2021–22. This is 64 days more than in 2017–18.
  • Total hip replacement (27 days) – from 179 days in 2020–21 to 153 days in 2021–22. This is 95 days more than it was five years ago.
• 6.3% of patients waited longer than 365 days to be admitted for elective surgery, a decrease from 7.6% in the previous year, but an increase from 1.8% in 2017–18.
  • This difference was most notable for Cataract extraction (which decreased by 3.9 percentage points, from 14.5% in 2020–21 to 10.6% in 2021–22) and Myringotomy (which decreased by 3.5 percentage points, from 8.2% in 2020–21 to 4.7% in 2021–22).
• Of the 25 most common surgeries, Dialysis access surgery had the shortest median waiting time (13 days), and Septoplasty (to fix a deviated nasal septum) had the longest (315 days).
• The median waiting time for Indigenous Australians (50 days) was higher than for Other Australians (39 days).

Admissions from waiting lists

• In 2021–22, three-quarters of all admissions for elective surgery from waiting lists were to Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals (40% and 34%, respectively).
• Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, admissions decreased by 17% overall, ranging from 19% in Public acute group A to 12% in Other hospitals.
• In 2021–22, 4.2% of admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists were reported for people of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, who represent 3.8% of the Australian population.

Where do I find more information?

The latest data on elective surgery waiting times is available for download below.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2022) Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS website, accessed 20 October 2022.