Push to reveal real wait times at Victorian hospitals
The Australian Medical Association has renewed calls for patients at public hospitals to be counted on waiting lists from the day they are referred for surgery in a bid for more transparency.
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Doctors are pushing for greater transparency into the state of Victoria’s runaway public hospital waiting lists.
The Australian Medical Association has renewed calls for patients to be counted on waiting lists from the day their GP refers them to a hospital for surgery — which may be months or even years longer than is officially recorded.
The push comes after the Herald Sun on Thursday revealed Victoria’s public hospital elective surgery waiting lists have grown by 27 per cent in six months.
But Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday rejected concerns over the length of surgery waiting lists, insisting the time patients wait for operations was more important.
“The total amount of time people are waiting I think is a much more important measure,” Mr Andrews said.
Victorian hospitals are not required to add patients to official waiting lists until they have been seen by their own specialists.
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In the UK, hospital waiting lists encompasses a patient’s entire treatment from referral by a GP to the start of specialist treatment.
AMA President Dr Tony Bartone said the “hidden waiting list” had to be exposed.
“What is not shown in these figures (is) the hidden waiting times - the time before you get your outpatient appointment - which is a significant amount in comparison to the actual wait time for the surgery,” Dr Bartone said.