The number of patients waiting to undergo elective surgery in ACT public hospitals dropped by more than 900 last year at the same time as demand for surgical procedures increased.
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The latest Health Directorate surgery report card shows that there were 4149 people on the elective surgery waiting list in December, down from 5098 in December 2010. Chief Minister and Health Minister Katy Gallagher said concerted efforts by Health staff had succeeded in slashing the waiting list by a fifth and dramatically reducing the median waiting time.
''I'm really pleased and it's a credit to the staff,'' Ms Gallagher said.
The median waiting time for elective surgery dropped from 76 to 59 days between July and December.
More than 5700 elective procedures were performed in the year to December, compared with 5400 in 2010-11 and 3500 in 2003-04.
The report card showed that 97 per cent of Category 1 urgent patients received their operations within 30 days, above the target of 95 per cent. Just over half of Category 2 patients were operated on within 90 days, below the target of 55 per cent.
Health managed to meet its target of having 82 per cent of Category 3 patients operated on within one year.
More than 6600 patients were added to the public waiting lists in the year to December, compared with 6400 the previous year.
In December, 1290 patients had been waiting longer than the clinically recommended time for their surgery, down from 2000 in December 2010.
In Canberra's two hospital emergency departments, all Category 1 urgent patients were seen immediately.
The Canberra Hospital managed to see 89 per cent of Category 2 patients within a target time of 10 minutes, compared with a 76 per cent success rate at Calvary Hospital.
Two thirds of Category 3 patients were seen within half an hour at the Canberra Hospital. Calvary's emergency department managed to see 58 per cent of Category 3 patients within half an hour.
Canberra Hospital saw 61 per cent and Calvary 51 per cent of Category 4 emergency department patients within one hour.
Calvary saw 60 per cent and The Canberra Hospital saw 69 per cent of Category 5 emergency department patients within two hours.
Ms Gallagher said improving the health system's elective surgery and emergency department performance was a gradual and ongoing process.
''It is a bit like turning a cruise ship around. You can't automatically veer from negative to positive. It does take time to slowly and gradually change the system,'' she said.
''I think everything we have done in the emergency department hasn't happened in the last quarter. It's been happening over the last two years to try and get in place processes to allow people better access in and out and through into the hospital.
''And that says more about how the hospital is performing as a whole rather than just the emergency department.''
Ms Gallagher said the number of additions to the elective surgery waiting list was being monitored closely because this could potentially affect waiting times for people in the less urgent categories.
