Posted Thursday, 4 February
Catholic sector waiting list plan
The Federal Government could cut 89,000 people from elective surgery waiting lists in a year by adopting a Queensland model which contracts private hospitals to treat public patients, Catholic Health Australia (CHA) says.
The Courier Mail newspaper reported that CHA’s Federal Budget submission said Queensland's Surgery Connect program had reduced the numbers of public elective surgery patients waiting longer than the medically acceptable times by 19% in 20 months.
"There has been an even more dramatic reduction of 46.1% in those on the waiting list whose surgery should occur within 12 months," the submission says.
CHA chief executive officer, Martin Laverty, said the nation's public hospitals operated at around 86% capacity, above the maximum level of 85% considered as safe under internationally-accepted guidelines. He said private facilities were running at about 77% capacity.
