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Three times as many patients were forced to wait longer than clinically recommended time limits for elective surgery in Canberra compared to internal targets set out by ACT Health. Figures from ACT Health revealed 1317 patients waited longer than clinical guidelines during the 2019-20 financial year. However, the directorate had set a target of just 430 Canberra patients having to wait longer than they should have. New data has also shown the directorate had missed multiple internal targets that it set for the past financial year, including elective surgeries performed and emergency wait times. While the number of category one elective surgery patients – those listed as urgent with a recommended wait time of 30 days – was on target with 97 per cent receiving surgery on time, targets for other categories fell short. The large number of patients waiting longer than guidelines for elective surgery was due to the wait times for category two – semi-urgent patients to be seen in fewer than 90 days, and category three – non-urgent patients with a timeline of a year or less, according to the directorate. “The number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended has been impacted by several factors, such as demand for more urgent category one elective surgeries and emergency surgery demand,” the directorate said. “Additionally, the suspension of non-essential elective surgeries due to the COVID-19 pandemic response … significantly contributed to the increase in the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended.” Non-essential elective surgery was suspended between March 25 and May 15 due to COVID-19 and normal surgery activity only resumed on June 9. ACT Health also said it was on track to reach its target of the number of elective surgeries performed before the pandemic hit. In 2019-20, there were 12,870 elective surgeries performed, down from the 14,250 that was targeted for the financial year. “The ACT was on track to deliver a record of 14,250 elective surgeries for public patients for the year, prior to the COVID restrictions,” ACT Health said. “By the end of March 2020, the ACT health system had performed around 10,400 surgeries.” The directorate has said a key part of the recovery of the health system would be to address the backlog of elective surgeries as a result of the pandemic. Estimates have said up to 16,000 elective surgeries will be performed in Canberra hospitals in 2020-21. Figures from ACT Health also revealed only 58 per cent of emergency patients had a stay in the emergency department of four hours or less, far below the internal target the directorate had set of 90 per cent for the year. “The results against the target is due mainly due to below-target wait times for triage category three and four patients, which make up the majority of emergency department presentations,” ACT Health said. In the past financial year, there were 6 per cent fewer presentations to emergency, with 141,021 patients being seen. However, ACT Health said there was a significant increase in the number of category one and two patients, with a 25 per cent increase for category one, the most urgent category of emergency patients. It comes after recent figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed Canberrans faced the longest wait time in the country for emergency care. Those figures showed just 48 per cent of Canberra patients were seen on time, below the national average of 74 per cent.

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