The ACT Health Minister’s false optimism on outpatient waiting times is belied by the latest figures which show that in the seven months from March to October 2022, the number of overdue outpatients increased from 23,065 to 24,972 - an increase of 1,907.

Asked last month in a radio interview when she would have some figures to show Canberrans things were doing better, Rachel Stephen-Smith said, “Oh look, I think we are doing better overall. I can't give you a timeframe on when we can actually get the full up to date data on that”.

The latest figures, tabled in response to my motion in the ACT Assembly, show the percentage of patients overdue for their outpatient appointment rose to 84% in October 2022 up from 81% in March.

In October 2022, 29,892 patients were waiting for an outpatient appointment, whereas in March 2022 there were 28,472 patients on the waiting list.

“I’m astounded the Minister thinks the ACT is doing better on outpatient waiting times when the situation is clearly getting worse,” Shadow Health Minister Leanne Castley said.

“The number of patients not seen within clinically recommended timeframes increased by 2.5% in seven months – which is not “doing better”.

“I received a call from someone waiting for an appointment with the neurology department who was told it’s unlikely he will be seen in his lifetime because he is a category 3 patient.”

The latest figures show 675 Category 3 neurology patients are now waiting an average 2 years and 8 months to get an appointment - up from 2 years 2 months earlier last year.

Meanwhile Canberra Health Services’ 2,158 Category 2 gynaecology patients are waiting an average 1 year and now an extra 3 months to get an actual appointment with a specialist.

“This is totally unacceptable.

“It’s also clear many ill Canberrans are going interstate, going private or just giving up.

“The Government is prioritising its $3 billion tram extension over public hospitals. Now waiting times for outpatients are getting worse.”

Ms Castley added that Canberra Health Services couldn’t provide data from this year because glitches with its new $145 million Digital Health Record mean data must be extracted manually, resulting in significant delays.