ACT Health is reviewing the way it communicates with patients on the elective surgery waiting list after The Canberra Times revealed last week that a 75-year-old intellectually disabled man suspected of having prostate cancer had been waiting more than a year for an operation he had had been told he required within a fortnight.

The Health Department admitted last week that elective surgery patients were sometimes not informed if they were moved from one urgency category to another.

Health Care Consumers' Association of the ACT executive director Darlene Cox said many patients needed help from an independent person other than their GP to ensure care was properly coordinated.

''That role is a really big issue and it's a thing that often is talked about when we're talking about elective surgery,'' she said. ''You might call them a patient navigator, a system navigator. The role of that person is around recognising the needs of the whole person and providing them with the information to optimise their outcome.''

Patients with chronic and painful conditions who faced long waits for elective surgery in the public health system needed more support.

''It might be someone who needs a hip replacement, they're in chronic pain ... you do need that role of patient advocate and we think there's a need to fund those positions, to fund the care coordination role.''

The ACT budget included an extra $14.7million for elective surgery, including funds provided under a Council of Australian Governments Agreement.

The Government is close to finalising agreements with private hospitals to take on some public elective surgery work.

ACT Health has been experiencing difficulty in recruiting staff specialists in some areas where there are long elective surgery waiting lists.

The ACT Visiting Medical Officers Association said some of its members were willing to take on more elective surgery in the public system.

''Some of them are willing to do more than their contracted sessions per month but there are no regular sessions offered to them to do the work,'' association president Dr Peter Hughes said.