A POMONA man waiting for hip surgery says the Queensland Government “moved the goal posts” to reduce reported waiting times. Dave Glarvey had an x-ray in June 2012, which showed his left hip was down to “bone on bone” and required surgery. Mr Glarvey said he was still waiting to see a specialist for assessment before making it onto the “real” waiting list for his operation. “Evidently the waiting time doesn’t commence until a person has seen a specialist and has been approved for surgery,” he said. Mr Glarvey wrote to Health Minister Lawrence Springborg in February and got a reply in April. In the letter from Assistant Minister for Health Dr Chris Davis, he said from July to September 2013, the 90 percentile waiting time for orthopaedic surgery was 222 days. But from October to December 2013 the 90 percentile waiting time for an orthopaedic specialist outpatient appointment was 675 days. The Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service received Mr Glarvey’s referral in June 2012 and was assigned an urgency Category 2 with appointment within 90 days. “Unfortunately there is currently high demand for orthopaedic clinic appointments,” Dr Davis said. “The hospital has over 1900 Category 2 patients on the waiting list.” Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service chief executive Kevin Hegarty said Nambour hospital orthopaedic outpatient referrals had increased by more than 70% with more than 1200 new patient referrals received in the March quarter compared to 717 last year. “Following assessment, it is likely that less than 17% of these patients will require surgery,” he said. “Given this reality, the Health Service has recently initiated ‘non-operational pathways’ to reduce the time patients have to wait before commencing treatment.” Mr Glarvey’s referral was forwarded to The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane on May 31, 2013 and prioritised as a Category 2 case. “Due to the high number of patients being referred to The Prince Charles Hospital orthopaedic program, there is an expected wait of approximately 12 months for Category 2 patients,” Dr Davis said.