Tasmanians continue to benefit from the Rockliff Liberal Government's four-year, $196 million plan to drive down the elective surgery waiting list, with the latest progress report again showing Tasmanians are receiving their surgery sooner.
Minister for Health, Guy Barnett, said Tasmania's public hospitals delivered record levels of activity in 2022-23, with 21,364 public elective surgery admissions, which is 34 per cent more than in 2019-20, and 13,294 endoscopies.
"This has exceeded annual performance targets and equates to more activity than has ever been delivered before, resulting in improved access to care for Tasmanians," Minister Barnett said.
"Our clinician-led, patient-focused Statewide Elective Surgery Four-Year Plan 2021-2025 has resulted in a 16 per cent reduction to the elective surgery waiting list during the previous financial year.
"We have also seen the median wait time for elective surgery decrease across patient categories 1, 2 and 3."
These outstanding results show the Government's plan is working, helping Tasmanians receive the right health care when they need it.
"During 2022-23, 1050 more elective surgery admissions were delivered than the previous year, and the waiting list has decreased by 16 per cent in this 12-month period,'' Minister Barnett said.
The waiting list at the end of June was 7896 – the lowest since May 2018 – and a 35 per cent decrease from the level seen in January 2021.
"This is testament to the skill, dedication and commitment of our health workforce who are ensuring improved health outcomes for Tasmanians," Minister Barnett said.
"We will continue to take action in the third year of our elective surgery plan, to ensure more Tasmanians receive their surgery sooner.
"I would again like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of our amazing health workforce, who continue to support the health and wellbeing of the Tasmanian community."
In addition to our investment in elective surgery, we have also released our Statewide Endoscopy Services Four-Year Plan 2023-2027, to support service improvements and reduce the time people wait for these important procedures.
The Rockliff Liberal Government is delivering on its long-term plan by pursuing every opportunity to deliver the health system Tasmanians need and deserve.
The progress report for year two of the Statewide Elective Surgery Four-Year Plan 2021-2025 is available here: https://www.health.tas.gov.au/publications/delivering-our-elective-surgery-plan
