The wait times in emergency departments and the waiting lists for elective surgeries have blown out after COVID-19 hit Australia's health system.
The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) annual public health system report card has revealed the longest wait times in each state and the toll the pandemic has taken on the public health system.
The report showed more than 754,000 people are waiting for surgery and the proportion of people waiting more than a year for surgery has tripled.
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AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid said the report detailed the enormous pressure the health system is under.
"Australia urgently needs a recovery plan for its public hospital system. We need appropriate funding to clear the backlog of elective surgeries, and to build enough capacity to meet the growing needs of the community," he said.
Elective surgery wait times reach record-breaking highs
One of the key concerns is the "hidden waiting list" which refers to the number of patients who are waiting to see a specialist as an outpatient in the public hospital system.
This is on top of the already skyrocketing waiting lists shown by the data of each state.
Victorians are facing some of the longest wait times for non-urgent elective surgery caused by restrictions placed on the sector during the Omicron outbreak.
https://twitter.com/ama_media/status/1507464444255031301Only 62 per cent of category two patients (needing treatment within 90 days) were able to receive their elective surgery.
Tasmania also recorded extremely long wait times for non-urgent elective surgery also due to the shut down of the sector during the peak of last year's COVID-19 outbreak.
In Tasmania currently, there are more than 59,000 patients waiting to see a specialist in a public health system, including patients waiting close to 800 days to see a neurosurgeon with an urgent referral.
Only 36 per cent of category two patients received their surgery within 90 days.
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The top performer for elective surgery wait times was NSW where more than 87 per cent of patients underwent surgery within 90 days.
Dr Khorshid said non-urgent surgery is still essential, and the wait times for these procedures can have life-long impacts.
"Every delayed surgery has an impact, leading to loss of quality of life and further deterioration of health," he added.
"Delaying a minor surgical intervention to improve the hearing of a child may mean they miss crucial time for physical and mental development."
Emergency departments inundated with patients
Emergency departments also buckled under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic with patients waiting hours just to see a nurse or a doctor.
More than one in three people waited longer than the clinically-recommended 30 minutes to receive urgent care.
"One in three people who present to an ED will wait longer than four hours to be either discharged or admitted. This is why we see increased ramping of ambulances in front of our hospitals and why patients are suffering unnecessarily," Dr Khorshid said.
The ACT recorded the longest wait times at public hospital emergency departments, with just 35 per cent of patients seen within 30 minutes.
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Western Australia also recorded a significant rise in wait times at emergency departments with only 43 per cent of patients being seen within 30 minutes.
Tasmania and South Australia also saw wait times blow out with 50 per cent of patients seen at an emergency department within 30 minutes.
NSW performed relatively well in comparison to other states in the number of patients who were seen in the recommended time at emergency departments.
75 per cent of patients were seen in the recommended 30 minutes.
