Number of Queenslanders waiting for surgery appointments drops by 50 per cent in some specialties

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says new data that shows the number of Queenslanders waiting for their first appointment with a surgeon has plunged is a sign the stressed system is catching up.

The number of Queenslanders waiting for their first appointment with a surgeon has dropped by 50 per cent in some specialties.

Data released by the Health Minister shows an overall reduction in the number of Queenslanders waiting for their first appointment with medical specialists and surgeons of four per cent.

The Courier-Mail reported in February that patients were languishing on ballooning elective surgery lists where the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended had doubled in a year.

But Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says the numbers show the state’s health system was starting to catch-up after electives surgeries were cancelled during Covid recovery.

During this financial year to March, there have been 33,741 extra, initial appointments held compared to the same period last year.

It means there’s been a reduction of 4,439 people on the long wait list from in the first for months of this year.

The number of heart patients waiting for an appointment with a surgeon has dropped by 54 per cent, 37 per cent decrease for oncology patients, 32 per cent drop in the number of palliative care patients and a 22 per cent decrease for gynaecology.

However, there were small increases in the specialty areas of gastroenterology, ophthalmology and rheumatology.

The demand for specialist services has more than doubled since 2016.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Ms Fentiman said the above data was not regularly reported by Queensland Health, something she wanted changed to increase transparency.

“I’ve asked Queensland Health to consider regularly releasing these figures to ensure our community is informed about the work that’s happening across our hospitals and health services,” she said.

“I’m also really keen to work with the department in presenting the data in a way that is far more easily digestible for Queenslanders … rather than uploading spreadsheets that are hard to navigate.”

Ms Fentiman also paid tribute to “the hard work of frontline health workers” as they worked through the COVID-19 backlogs.

“Improving access to surgery and specialist clinics is one of my key priorities, and these statistics show we’re starting to make headway … they (health workers) have worked incredibly hard to achieve this despite increased demand,” she said.

“There’s more to be done, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

The most recent publicly released figures for elective surgery – from the time period of January to March – show that 58,446 Queenslanders are waiting for their surgery.

Around twenty per cent of those patients have not been seen within clinically recommended time frames.