❓ In Oct 2006, Hon Helen Morton asked about surgical specialist outpatient waiting lists in WA. Hon Sue Ellery responded with data and strategies to reduce waiting times, including a 3% reduction in metro public hospitals since Nov 2005.
AnsweredQoN 889Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
SURGICAL SPECIALISTS - WAITING LISTS
How many people in Western Australia are waiting for appointments with surgical specialists? Hon SUE ELLERY
How many people in Western Australia are waiting for appointments with surgical specialists? Hon SUE ELLERY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
There are 26 009 people waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists in Western Australia. As at 3 October 2006, 23 961 people were waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists at Western Australian metropolitan public hospitals. This represents around a three per cent reduction compared with 30 November 2005, for which the figure was 24 967. This is the most comparable data period available. At the Western Australian Country Health Service, 2 048 people are waiting for outpatient appointments with surgical specialists. WACHS data for 2005 is not available. A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
A range of strategies are in place to reduce the numbers waiting for surgical specialist outpatient appointments at public metropolitan hospitals. As part of the metropolitan health service’s specialist outpatient services policy, which came into effect from 1 July 2006, project officers at the public tertiary hospitals are working to reduce unnecessary follow-ups to create new slots for outpatient appointments, and reduce the “did not attend” rate with the implementation of the DNA policy, further freeing up slots for new appointments. As of January next year, at the tertiary hospitals, patients who do not attend outpatient appointments on two consecutive occasions without sufficient reason will be removed from the outpatient waiting list. Teaching hospitals will be much tighter with referral criteria, requiring sufficient information from general practitioners and ensuring that cases meet certain criteria before the referral is accepted. This will result in patients being treated by their general practitioner where appropriate, thereby freeing up appointment slots. The data quality group is working towards cleaning up the outpatient waiting lists to remove people who no longer require their appointments, thereby freeing up slots for new appointments, and improving communication between tertiary hospitals to ensure that patients are listed at only one hospital site for a particular specialty, thereby reducing duplication.
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