ELECTIVE surgery waiting times are again on the rise after two years of zero growth, putting the effectiveness of the federal government's hospital rescue measures under renewed scrutiny.
The latest hospital statistics released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show average waiting times for elective surgery rose to 36 days nationally in 2009-10, two days more than in either 2008-09 or 2007-08.
The rate of elective surgery admissions remained steady at about 30 admissions per 1000 people, the report showed.
In numerical terms, admissions for elective surgery rose from 1.8 million in 2008-09 to 1.9 million in 2009-10.
The report also found admissions to private hospitals were growing more strongly than those to public facilities, with annual increases averaging 3.5 per cent for public hospitals compared with 5 per cent for private.
The performance came on the back of strongly increased spending on public hospitals, which burned through $33.7 billion in 2009-10 after rising by 5.4 per cent, adjusted for inflation, each year over the past five years.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the figures showed the government's "50 per cent boost to hospital funding in 2008 is starting to pay dividends".
A spokesman for the minister said the figures showing waiting times had lengthened "should be treated with caution".
"An increase may mean hospitals are targeting those patients who have been waiting the longest, instead of revealing a general increase in waiting times across all patients," he said.
~ Posted by Adam Cresswell, Health editor; From: The Australian, April 29, 2011
(http://www.theaustralian.com.au)
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