Wollongong public patients face some of the longest waits for elective surgery in the state according to Labor’s health spokesman Walt Secord.
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Mr Secord said recent figures showed elderly patients were forced to wait for almost a year for life-changing hip and knee replacements at Wollongong Hospital, with children facing similar delays to get their tonsils out.
As at June 30 this year, the waiting list for elective surgery had grown to more than 2000 people according to the Bureau of Health Information’s latest quarterly report.
That included 710 patients waiting for ear, nose and throat surgery; 659 awaiting orthopaedic surgery; 356 requiring tonsillectomies; and over 400 for knee and hip replacements.
Mr Secord joined Labor candidate for Wollongong, Paul Scully, outside Wollongong Hospital on Tuesday morning to offer their ‘’report card’’ on waiting lists.
‘’Wollongong has the dubious distinction of having the longest waits outside of Sydney for elective surgery,’’ Mr Secord said.
‘’The median wait (for non-urgent surgery) is now 342 days which is an increase of 23 days from the same period (April to June) last year – and 110 days longer than the state average.’’
Mr Scully said lengthy waits for surgery not only affected a patient’s health.
‘’It can also have devastating consequences for people’s livelihoods, their social interaction, even their ability to move around,’’ he said.
‘’It’s time the Baird government got serious about this backlog of elective surgery.’’
Mr Secord said Wollongong Hospital’s emergency department was also under the pump, with 37 per cent of patients waiting longer than four hours in the last quarter.
He said the government needed to invest more in the region’s health services, with more staff a priority.
However NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the BHI report showed ‘’marked improvements in healthcare delivery’’ throughout the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
‘’The proportion of patients who received elective surgery within the clinically-recommended timeframes across the district is now 93.8 per cent, compared to 86.1 per cent in 2011,’’ she said.
‘’Clinicians determine when patients receive surgery based on the clinically recommended timeframes, which is within 365 days for the non-urgent elective surgery category.’’
Across the district, Mrs Skinner said ED performance had risen in the past five years.
‘’Wollongong Hospital in particular has made great improvements with 63 per cent of patients now leaving the ED within four hours, compared to just 45.2 per cent in 2011 when Labor left office,’’ she said.
Since that time, the Illawarra had also gained 355 additional nurses and 110 doctors.