Figures revealed in a Productivity Commission report released on Wednesday showed the ACT had the highest rate of administration staff per 1000 people across its public hospital services in 2016-17, at 3.8 for every 1000 people.

The territory also had the second highest proportion of nurses and salaried doctors behind the NT, at 7.7 and 2.4 per 1000 people respectively.

By comparison, in NSW there were 1.7 doctors and 6.1 nurses per 1000 people at public hospitals.

While Canberra's public hospitals may appear to be well staffed, ACT patients are the least likely to feel their clinicians are able to spend enough time with them.

The data showed that in 2017-18, just 77 per cent of Canberra patients agreed their doctor or specialist "always or often" spent enough time with them.

In South Australia  - the best performing state - that figure was 92 per cent, while in NSW it was 88 per cent.

But Canberra patients were more likely to believe that their doctors often or always listened to them carefully (91 per cent) and showed them respect (89 per cent).

Nurses were also likely to be stretched for time in the ACT, with 85.5 per cent of patients reporting their nurse always or often spent enough time with them.

That was the lowest rate in the country.

The report reaffirmed Australian Institute of Health data released late last year which showed the worsening performance of ACT's emergency departments and elective surgery services.

The data showed ACT patients were far more likely than those in any other jurisdiction to wait more than a year for surgery, and wait longer for treatment at the emergency department.

The report showed while healthcare in the ACT remained among the mot expensive in the country - second only the NT - cost per patient had come down.

The average cost per patient at Canberra public hospitals dropped from $6,152 in 2015-16 to $5,598 in 2016-17.

There was good news in the report for ACT's ambulance services, with the Territory recording the best survival rates for adult cardiac arrest at 35 per cent.

The territory also had the lowest time of any jurisdiction - fifteen minutes -  in which 90 per cent of ambulances arrived.

In NSW this figure was 21 minutes.

Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said improving patient flow at Canberra Hospital was one of the government's top priorities.

“New Canberra Health Services CEO Bernadette McDonald is developing a strategy to improve access to timely care, one of her first priorities on joining ... in October 2018," she said.

"She is taking a whole of hospital approach to access and patient flow, reviewing processes in relation to the discharge stream in the [emergency department], admission to wards in the hospital, and patient discharge from the inpatient hospital setting."

Ms Fitzharris said the government oversaw a four per cent increase in removals from the public hospital waiting list for elective surgery in 2017-18.

“The ACT government is investing $64.7 million over the next four years to improve access to emergency and elective surgical care and reduce waiting times," she said.

“The ACT government will continue to make health our number one priority in 2019."