The ACT government will complete a full audit of the waiting list for endoscopy procedures, after it supported an opposition motion calling for action to reduce time patients must wait for the procedure.
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ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government would report back to the ACT Legislative Assembly in September with more detail on the plan to reduce the wait list.
She said the audit would provide greater clarity on the length of waiting times for patients and remove people who had accessed services elsewhere while waiting for the procedure in the public system.
"This audit was planned for last year but was interrupted by our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Undertaking the audit and developing a sustainable long-term plan will take a little bit of time but will increase the public's confidence in our public health system," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT government had committed at last year's election to increase funding for endoscopy procedures and was continuing its work to improve the public health system.
The Canberra Times last week revealed the public waiting list for endoscopy examinations had blown out to 7200 people and at least two people had developed cancer while waiting more than a year for the procedure.
Canberra health professionals said official waiting list figures reveal a "frightening" state of affairs when it came to endoscopy examinations, and the government had thrown aside viable options to fix it.
Upper endoscopies can be used to diagnose stomach and oesophageal cancer, whereas lower endoscopies - otherwise known as colonoscopies - can be used to diagnose bowel cancer.
Public patients had a median wait time of 519 days to get an endoscopy examination in the ACT, according to the most recent data. One person had been on the waiting list for eight years - a matter under investigation by ACT Health.
Liberal member Giulia Jones on Thursday moved a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the government to demonstrate how it would fix waiting times for endoscopy procedures.
"Canberrans are getting fed up with the answer, 'We are working on it, there are processes under way, something will happen soon', which we have heard as answers for many years," Mrs Jones told the assembly.
"If it's true that two people have developed cancer while waiting for these procedures, and those are the cases that have been reported, then this government should hang its head in shame. What an absolute tragedy."
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
