❓ Hon Martin Aldridge inquires about patient waiting times for specialist services within the WA Country Health Service, and the government provides data on elective surgery waitlists and targets, while acknowledging data limitations for non-admitted services and logistical challenges in regional care.
AnsweredQoN 2351Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I
refer to Legislative Council question on notice 2006, and I ask: (a) what
are the patient waiting times for 1 January–30 June 2019 for each specialty
available within each WA Country Health Service sub-region; (b) what are the targets for waiting times for
specialty services identified in (a); and (c) where
waiting times are outside of those targets, what are the main contributing
factors to delays in accessing specialist services?
refer to Legislative Council question on notice 2006, and I ask: (a) what
are the patient waiting times for 1 January–30 June 2019 for each specialty
available within each WA Country Health Service sub-region; (b) what are the targets for waiting times for
specialty services identified in (a); and (c) where
waiting times are outside of those targets, what are the main contributing
factors to delays in accessing specialist services?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
3 September 2019
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Response time
9 days
(a) Please see tabled paper no. which outlines cases on the elective surgery wait list by Urgency Category.
Detailed information on wait times for non-admitted services is not currently available. There is currently underway a comprehensive, multi-faceted range of Outpatient Reform Projects. These projects include extensive work to improve the quality, consistency and accuracy of outpatient data, including how it is categorised, collected and reported.
(b) Patients requiring elective surgery are triaged by the specialist into three categories depending on clinical urgency:
Category 1: within 30 days
Category 2: within 90 days
Category 3: within 365 days
Patients seen by specialists in the hospital outpatient setting are triaged by medical staff in consultation with general practitioners into three referral priorities depending on clinical urgency:
Referral priority 1: to be seen within 30 days
Referral priority 2: to be seen within 90 days
Referral priority 3: to be seen within 365 days
(c) The main contributing factors for WACHS in delays in accessing specialist surgical services are logistical challenges in provision of regional care by visiting surgeons, and on occasion, rescheduling to accommodate emergency and acute care needs during busy periods. Administrative errors such as patients not being accurately recorded as not ready for care also contribute to the statistical but not actual prevalence of over boundary cases. Despite these challenges WACHS has very few patients that are not able to be seen within time boundaries for surgery (1.5% of cases).
As detailed information on wait times for non-admitted services is not currently available WACHS is not able to comment on factors contributing to delays at this time.
Detailed information on wait times for non-admitted services is not currently available. There is currently underway a comprehensive, multi-faceted range of Outpatient Reform Projects. These projects include extensive work to improve the quality, consistency and accuracy of outpatient data, including how it is categorised, collected and reported.
(b) Patients requiring elective surgery are triaged by the specialist into three categories depending on clinical urgency:
Category 1: within 30 days
Category 2: within 90 days
Category 3: within 365 days
Patients seen by specialists in the hospital outpatient setting are triaged by medical staff in consultation with general practitioners into three referral priorities depending on clinical urgency:
Referral priority 1: to be seen within 30 days
Referral priority 2: to be seen within 90 days
Referral priority 3: to be seen within 365 days
(c) The main contributing factors for WACHS in delays in accessing specialist surgical services are logistical challenges in provision of regional care by visiting surgeons, and on occasion, rescheduling to accommodate emergency and acute care needs during busy periods. Administrative errors such as patients not being accurately recorded as not ready for care also contribute to the statistical but not actual prevalence of over boundary cases. Despite these challenges WACHS has very few patients that are not able to be seen within time boundaries for surgery (1.5% of cases).
As detailed information on wait times for non-admitted services is not currently available WACHS is not able to comment on factors contributing to delays at this time.
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