‘Waiting time rollercoaster’ facing elective surgery patients

Patients are waiting longer for elective surgery than before the pandemic, new figures show. Photo: AAP

Patients wanting elective surgery are waiting longer on public hospital lists than they did before the pandemic.

Data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show 6.3 per cent of patients waited longer than a year for elective surgery – a decrease from 7.6 per cent from the previous year during the height of the pandemic – but an increase from 1.8 per cent in 2017-18.