Doctors stood down 2:09
Queensland Health has suspended two doctors for speaking to the media about the handling of the Ebola scare at Cairns Hospital
- TEN
- 14 Oct 2014
- News
QUEENSLANDERS are waiting longest for orthopedic and general surgery, with patients seeking gynaecology and vascular surgery enduring a shorter wait.
The September elective surgery figures show 148 patients had waited longer than the recommended time for orthopedic surgery, while 96 lingered on the general surgery list longer than intended.
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For each surgery specialty in September, at least 91 per cent had been treated within the recommended time.
But the Newman Government has been forced to defend the 250,000-strong “waiting list for the waiting list”, accusing the Opposition of trying to score political points attacking a figure they once hid.
Premier Campbell Newman and Health Minister Lawrence Springborg yesterday chose Bundaberg Hospital to make their second health announcement this week – $23.4 million to clear the ophthalmology backlog.
Figures show that while 250,000 people are currently on the waiting list to see a specialist – known as the waiting list for the waiting list – a further 411,000 had received an initial appointment and were waiting to move through the system.
“The number of Queenslanders on the outpatient waiting list has remained virtually static but the number being given their outpatient appointments in this state has risen by hundreds of thousands since the Newman Government was elected,” Mr Springborg said.
“Not only are more Queenslanders receiving their outpatient appointments but more are receiving their surgery on time and the system is functioning better.”
Mr Newman said wait times were reducing across the board, with the “long-wait” list for elective surgery down from 6485 in 2012 to 531.
Opposition health spokeswoman Jo-Ann Miller said the waitlist was too long.
But Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Shaun Rudd backed the Government.
“If the waiting list is 1,000,000 or 10, as long as the person who’s been trigged as a category one gets seen within a month … that’s the important thing.”