Question on Notice 341/2026: Waiting periods

Topic

Waiting periods

Question

QUESTION With reference to surgery waitlist times in January 2026, as listed on Queensland Health’s Performance Website— Will the Minister advise the number of elective surgeries cancelled by either patient or Queensland Health, at Hervey Bay Hospital during the reporting period of January 2025 to January 2026 (in table format, reported in individual tables for each month, reported separately by specialty and category, where the y axis reports the number cancelled and the x-axis reports the specialty and category, with the values provided in the table and not a reference number to a value that sits outside of the table)? ANSWER The Crisafulli Government remains committed to improving access to elective surgery and reducing the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended timeframes. The Member would be pleased to learn that the Crisafulli Government has invested a record $1.8 billion investment into Surgery Connect and elective surgery capacity, including at Hervey Bay Hospital. This record Surgery Connect investment comes as a result of the elective surgery waitlist ballooning under the former government from 35,385 to a 2024 peak of 66,632. Our latest publicly available, monthly data shows that we are delivering on our commitment to stabilise the elective surgery waitlist, which is now 6,553 lower than the 2024 peak. We know the system is under pressure with over 140,200 people referred for elective surgery in this financial year and we are continuing to work hard to drive down the waitlist further. Nearly 130,000 elective surgeries have been performed in the financial year to date. This is 10.7% more than in the same period last year. Our data clearly demonstrates that our record $1.8 billion investment into Surgery Connect and elective surgery capacity in public hospitals is working. I am advised that cancellations can occur for a multitude of reasons, including: the case being brought forward; patient no longer requires treatment; patient treated elsewhere; a priority emergency or elective case; staffing shortages; availability of beds; and more. Cancellations can occur as part of the routine changes to scheduling sometimes occurring well in advance of the day of surgery. Therefore, day of surgery cancellations is the most meaningful measure to reflect elective surgery performance. To avoid identifying individuals, data is aggregated and counts of less than five are not reported. Count of Month Cancellations Jan-25 <5 Feb-25 7 Mar-25 10 Apr-25 <5 May-25 5 Jun-25 8 Jul-25 6 Aug-25 6 Sep-25 5 Oct-25 5 Nov-25 5 Dec-25 6 Jan-26 5 Specialty Count of Cancellations General surgery 3 3 Gynaecology 2 0 Orthopaedic surgery 1 9 Category Count of Cancellations Category 1 - Admission within 30 days 30 Category 2 - Admission within 90 days 26 Category 3 - Admission within 365 days 16

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