Outpatient wait times in the ACT continue to increase despite the ACT Labor-Greens government promising to deliver more elective surgeries and improve wait times.

A Freedom of Information request by the Canberra Liberals reveals that more than 80 per cent of the patients on the outpatient wait list are overdue.

Shadow Minister for Health Leanne Castley said a ministerial briefing obtained under FOI showed that approximately 23,065 patients were overdue for their surgery out of a total of 28,472 who are on the waitlist for certain specialties.

“This means that more than 80 per cent of patients are waiting longer than clinically recommended in the ACT,” Ms Castley said.

“These figures paint a very bleak picture for any Canberran that may need elective surgery in the future as well as the tens of thousands of Canberrans who will have to live in pain and sometimes debilitating conditions until they are admitted.”

Patients are triaged into categories which determine how urgently they need surgery. Category 1 urgent patients are clinically recommended to be seen within 30 days, however, there are 130 urgent patients waiting an average of 163 days for Ear Nose and Throat surgeries.

Category 2, semi-urgent patients are recommended to be seen within 90 days despite, General Surgery specialty having more than 1,300 people waiting an average of 575 days for admission.

Category three, non-urgent patients are recommended to be seen within 365 days. Canberra health Services has 1250 Category three patients waiting an average of 1085 days for Orthopaedic surgery.

“Our FOI reveals that there are thousands of Canberrans waiting far longer than what is clinically recommended despite promises from the Minister to reduce these numbers.

“Some of these patients have contacted my office and feel forced to pay for private surgeries or move states, because they do not want to live in pain, sometimes for hundreds of days before they receive their surgery.

“It is tragic that Canberrans are forced to take this drastic action because the Barr-Rattenbury government have failed to address major issues in our public hospitals,” Ms Castley concluded.