Tasmanian health data reveal long waits for ear, nose and throat and gastroentrology appointments

Staggering waiting times for outpatient appointments in Tasmania’s public health system have been revealed, and two particular areas stand out as the worst.

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SOME southern Tasmanian children with ear, nose and throat ailments are facing average wait times of four years for an outpatient appointment in the public system for semi-urgent conditions, alarming health data shows.

More urgent cases are usually being attended to within 187 days, while adults with such issues wait 223 days if they are considered urgent and 1202 for less pressing matters.

In northern Tasmania, the wait times are less severe but people wanting to see an ear, nose and throat specialist for a semi-urgent condition still have to wait 450 days.

Meanwhile, patients in southern Tasmania waiting to see a gastroenterologist are usually waiting 322 days if it’s urgent, and more than two years if it is semi-urgent.

These figures are worse in northern Tasmania.

Meanwhile, patients typically wait 740 days for an outpatient appointment related to neurosurgery that is considered urgent.

Ear, nose and throat Professor Melville da Cruz examines a patient.

Australian Medical Association Tasmania spokeswoman Dr Annette Barratt said waiting lists for ear, nose and throat, and gastroenterology had been steadily rising for years.

“But it’s not just a problem in Tasmania, it’s a problem nationwide,” she said, citing a shortage of ear, nose and throat surgeons.

“Southern Tasmania I think has three that do the work in the public sector and none of them are full time,” she said.

Dr Barratt said bringing down the gastroenterology waiting list in particular had to be a priority for the state government.

“Gastroenterology has been one of the ones that has been outsourced to the private sector in the past and will almost certainly again, to try and bring that list down,” she said.

Dr Barratt said people should be encouraged to have private health insurance if they were able, which would take pressure off the public sector.

Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the most recent health data showered there were 55,085 people waiting for an outpatient appointment in June, down slightly from April figures.

“While Covid restrictions have had an impact, I acknowledge this is still too many,” he said.

“There are more than 40,000 occasions each year where a patient is recorded as not attending a scheduled outpatient appointment, leading to under-utilised capacity within the service.

“While it is completely understandable that people might not always be able to attend an appointment, I’d ask anyone who is unable to make a scheduled appointment to let the service know in advance where possible so that time can be used to care for another person.”

Mr Rockliff said a range of measures were being used to manage outpatient waiting lists, including telehealth, a more patient-friendly booking system, and improving referral processes.

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Originally published as Tasmanian health data reveal long waits for ear, nose and throat and gastroentrology appointments