In its third and final report on elective surgery waiting list, the Council of Australian Governments’ National Partnership on elective surgery waiting lists (COAG) found that state and territory governments had achieved mixed results in reforming the area.

 

The outcome of this National Partnership is to reduce the number of Australians waiting longer than clinically recommended for elective surgery.

 

Chairman of the COAG Reform Council, Mr Paul McClintock AO, said that overall the council found patchy performances from governments.

 

“While it is good to see that some governments performed well under this National Partnership, others still need to get their act together. It’s crucial that there is good performance across the country, for all Australians,” Mr McClintock said.

 

The council’s first two reports on this National Partnership focussed only on the number of procedures performed in each State and Territory.

 

The report found that NSW, Queensland and South Australia had all performed well in improving elective surgery waiting list management, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Morthern Territory did not meet their overall urgency category targets.

 

The ACT was the worst performer in managing its waiting list, only meeting the lowest priority target, to reduce the median waiting time for elective surgery.

 

Under the agreement, States and Territories are eligible to share in reward payments totalling $144 million. The allocation of reward funding is a decision for the Commonwealth.

 

The full report can be found here