Rudd Government Reforms Reduce Elective Surgery Wait Times
More than 35,000 extra people got their elective surgery in 2009, when compared to the same period in 2007 , the period when the Coalition Government was in power.
The September 2009 quarterly report on the Elective Surgery Waiting List Reduction Plan shows there was 76,774 additional elective surgery procedures performed between the Rudd Government’s election in November 2007 and September 2009.
Working families and the elderly are among the more than 76,000 people no longer waiting for their hip replacements, to have their cataracts fixed or to have relief from their back pain.
Helping those who have waited too long for their surgery is a key part of the Rudd Government’s work to reform our health system and create a National Health and Hospitals Network.
This work is clearly paying off with the percentage of patients seen within the clinically recommended time rising to 86.3 per cent, from 79.4 per cent under the former Government.
The Government is determined to continue building better health and hospitals for working families.
The Rudd Government is investing $1.4 billion to help patients waiting too long for their elective surgery, and to build capacity in our hospitals so that we can continue to treat more people waiting for treatment.
The Government has structured $300 million of funding to reward States and Territories who treat more patients within clinically recommended time frames. States and Territories need to provide timely accurate data on their performance and exceed performance targets to be paid bonuses under this approach.
This report shows progress towards meeting the Rudd Government’s target of treating 95 per cent of all elective surgery patients within clinically recommended times from January 2015.
An elective surgery National Access Guarantee will also apply from July 2012. Under the guarantee, any person waiting longer than clinically recommended will have their surgery fast tracked.
This report demonstrates that the Rudd Government’s efforts to improve elective surgery waiting times though better access and quicker treatment are starting to have an impact, but there is more work to be done.
These and other improvements under the National Health and Hospitals Network will deliver better health and better hospitals for all Australians.
A copy of the September 2009 quarterly report on the Elective Surgery Waiting List Reduction Plan can be accessed at www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/elective-surgery-progress
Topics: 2010, Australia, business, coalition government, elective surgery, Elective Surgery Waiting List Plan, Elective Surgery Waiting List Reduction Plan, elective surgery waiting times, goals, Governance, government, Guarantee, health care, health care reform, hospitals, investment, money, monitor, National Access Targets, National Health and Hospitals Network, news, performance, Rudd Government, society, surgery
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