Data shows disastrous decline in public hospital performance

Public hospital performance for emergency departments and elective surgery is at a record low with patients waiting longer because hospitals are logjammed, denying timely access to healthcare for many Australians.

New data detailing a “disastrous” fall in emergency department and essential elective surgery performance was clear evidence of a logjammed hospital system beyond breaking point, AMA President Professor Steve Robson said.

He was commenting on the release this week of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data showing nearly 40 per cent of patients were forced to wait more than four hours in an emergency department — the worst performance in 20 years in this measure.

In 2021-22 the number of elective surgeries performed fell by 131,000 from the previous year and by 135,000 before the pandemic in 2018-19. The data shows the fall was despite 110,000 fewer patients being added to the elective surgery waiting list in 2021-22 compared to the previous year.

“Wait lists have blown out to biblical proportions,” Professor Robson told ABC News.

“This reduction in volume is likely due to patients being stuck on the elective surgery ‘hidden’ waiting lists or seeking care through the private health system because they just can’t wait any longer,” Professor Robson said.

“Sadly, even the lucky patients who got their surgery often waited longer than the clinically recommended time. One in three patients waited for over a year for knee replacement and almost one in five waited for more than a year for a hip replacement.

“This is nothing short of disastrous.”

Professor Robson said it was clear that the way public hospitals were funded was not sustainable and a new funding agreement was needed to support public hospitals to improve their performance, expand capacity and reduce wait times.

The AMA has a plan to address this with its solution for public hospital reform.

Professor Robson said on SkyNews that hospitals were neglected for many years and faced a “staggering” capacity problem, which was exacerbated by being full with COVID patients, and it was difficult to get an appointment with a specialist to even get on the elective surgery wait list.

Capacity constraints had been made worse by staff in public hospitals who were unable to work because of COVID.

“This dreaded combination has put a huge dent in the amount of surgery Australia can get through and that’s a big problem for patients,” he said.

“This week we have seen reports of children waiting up to 12 hours for emergency care and patients dying while ramped at hospitals, and we know that these are not isolated instances.”