Thousands of South Australians waiting for elective surgery have been left languishing with no certainty about when they will receive their operations - despite Labor setting a target in the 2024/25 State Budget to ‘develop an elective surgery recovery plan for South Australia to reduce overdue elective surgery’.
This plan is nowhere to be seen, with SA Health data revealing more than 23,000 people are currently waiting for elective surgery, and a shocking 5,600 of those are overdue.
Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia said not only has the Government failed to deliver on its promise to fix ramping, it is also overseeing significant delays for elective surgery – leaving thousands of South Australians wondering when it will be their turn.
"For many South Australians, these surgeries will drastically improve their quality of life, yet they face waits of months, or even years, in the public health system," Mr Tarzia said.
“These blowouts are symptomatic of a health system under immense strain, and instead of delivering a plan, Labor is leaving South Australians waiting.”
Shadow Minister for Health, Ashton Hurn said that the Government must make the completion of this plan a priority so that South Australians waiting in pain can have their surgeries completed.
“It’s clear that Labor does not have a plan to address this growing waitlist - given the significant backlog, why hasn’t this been established?” Mrs Hurn said.
“This is the silent ramping we are seeing right across our public health system, where people in pain wait years to see a specialist, before being added to another waitlist for surgery.
“For many people it’s a cruel wait, significantly impacting quality of life, and limiting their ability to do every day activities.
“Whether it is recording ramping, emergency department overcrowding or blowouts to elective surgery waitlists, South Australians are being let down by Labor in their time of need.”
The Liberal Opposition is focused on easing the pressure with initiatives to boost primary health care, including reversing the Government’s GP payroll tax grab and helping more GP clinics open after hours.
“We want to keep the community healthy and out of hospital, so that they can get the care they need when they need it across the system,” Mr Tarzia concluded.
BACKGROUND
The SA Health Elective Surgery Dashboard can be found: https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/about+us/our+performance/our+hospital+dashboards/about+the+elective+surgery+dashboard/elective+surgery+dashboard
The latest State Budget also revealed the percentage of elective surgery patients treated within accepted timeframes has gone backwards in:
- Urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent elective surgeries at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.
- Semi-urgent and non-urgent elective surgeries at the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and a number of country Local Health Networks.
