Question on Notice 266/2026: Waiting periods

Topic

Waiting periods

Question

QUESTION With reference to outpatient waitlist performance in December 2025, as listed on Queensland Health’s Performance Website, which indicated a significant number of category one and two patients were not seen within clinically recommended times— Will the Minister advise the number of Hervey Bay-based outpatients referred to other HHSs for specialist outpatient appointments (in table format, where the x-axis is the HHS, and the y-axis reports the number of Hervey Bay-based patients)? ANSWER Over the past ten years, the specialist outpatient waitlist grew 43% from 206,710 to 295,503. There was a failure to adequately prepare the health system for Queensland’s growing needs and to deliver the necessary health infrastructure that Queenslander’s deserve and expect. The Member would be pleased to hear that in this financial year, the Crisafulli Government has already delivered almost 18,400 more specialist appointments than the same time last year – a total of 534,287 appointments. This is on top of the almost 130,000 elective surgeries delivered by the Crisafulli Government in the same period to stabilise the elective surgery waitlist, 10.7% more than the same time last year as a result of a record $1.8 billion investment into Surgery Connect and elective surgery capacity. I am advised that over 70% of all patients requiring specialist outpatient care in Hervey Bay receive their care in the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service. I am further advised that there are times when patients are referred to appropriately qualified specialists outside of Hervey Bay. There are also times when patients are referred to services closer to their primary location of residence, or where their support networks are available to support their ongoing care needs. The table below provides the referral numbers on 1 March 2026. To avoid identifying individuals, data is aggregated and counts of and less than five are not reported. HHS 1-Mar-26 Cairns and Hinterland HHS ≤5 Central Queensland HHS 27 Children's Health Queensland HHS 263 Darling Downs HHS 7 Gold Coast HHS 14 Mackay HHS ≤5 Mater Health Services 315 Metro North HHS 2,173 Metro South HHS 83 Sunshine Coast HHS 378 Townsville HHS 9 West Moreton HHS ≤5 Wide Bay HHS 7,869

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