The Queensland Government will provide an extra $30 million for hospitals to address what is known as the ‘waiting list for the waiting list’.
Health Minister Cameron Dick said 114,000 people were waiting longer than clinically recommended for their initial appointment with a specialist.
Mr Dick said the funding would be available from next month, but he would not put a figure on how many extra patients would be seen.
“I’m not going to put a target or a number on it today because I need to speak to the experts in the field about how they best use that money,” he said.
“I’m going to rely on their expertise and skill to best invest that money.”
Mr Dick said the Government was also scrapping a Liberal National Party (LNP) policy to offer a ‘wait time guarantee’ for public hospital patients needing elective surgery.
The LNP plan was announced just prior to the election.
It promised to treat patients within the recommended timeframe or offer them free treatment at another public or private hospital.
Mr Dick said the policy did not help those who were still waiting for their initial appointment with a specialist.
“It was a gimmick,” he said.
“I inherited a program which was going to spend $77 million over three years on advertising, bureaucracy, consultants and media.”