Overview

• 100,678 patients were on the elective surgery waiting list at the end of March, just 346 short of the pandemic high
• Non-urgent procedures carry an average wait of 322 days, more than a month longer than a year ago, while urgent cases wait 13 days
• Over 8,000 patients have already waited beyond their surgeons’ recommended timeframes, including 3,000 semi-urgent cases
• Demand for elective operations grew by 7.5% over the past year even as surgeons performed 1,800 more surgeries between January and March
• The $23 million funding boost has drawn criticism as insufficient and hospitals are accused of reclassifying or refusing patients to meet reporting benchmarks