THE average wait for ear, nose and throat surgery at Bathurst Hospital has blown out beyond 300 days, new figures reveal.
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The latest Bureau of Health Information data for April to June this year shows the average wait for ENT surgery was 304 days, up from just 81 days a year earlier and well above the average wait of 254 days at similar hospitals across the state.
The 60 Bathurst patients waiting for a tonsillectomy faced the longest queues with an average wait of 326 days, up from 83 days in 2017.
Despite the blowouts, though, hospital management says all ENT patients for the June quarter were treated within recommended timeframes.
“In April-June 2018 Bathurst Hospital performed 81 ENT surgeries,” a hospital spokesperson said.
“This was an increase of more than 42 per cent when compared to the same period the previous year and despite this significant increase, 100 per cent were performed within clinically recommended timeframes.”
The spokesperson said the increased waiting time was the result of a higher number of ENT patients being assessed by their doctor as “non-urgent”.
“In the same quarter in 2017, most cases were of a higher level of urgency and so the overall median timeframe is shorter.”
Patients waiting for orthopaedic surgery also faced a 300-day wait, the figures show.
The hospital performed 28 total hip replacements in the three-month period with an average waiting time of 316 days (up from 162 in 2017) and 36 total knee replacements with an average wait of 311 days (up slightly from 308).
The average waiting time for elective orthopaedic surgery in similar hospitals across the state was 160 days for the quarter.
“Orthopaedic surgery volumes remained fairly stable with [a total of] 105 surgeries performed in the quarter, only two surgeries less than the same period the previous year,” the spokesperson said.
“Overall, 98 per cent of patients had their surgery within the clinically recommended timeframe.
“The new general manager at Bathurst Hospital will be working with the Western NSW Local Health District team to examine options for further improving times for orthopaedic surgery.”
Other elective surgery categories to record longer waiting times in the June quarter were:
- Ophthalmology: 250 days, up from 192, 55 patients.
- General surgery: 57 days, up from 30, 51 patients.
Urology: 33 days, up from 23, 35 patients.
The 53 patients having a cataract extraction waited an average of 250 days for surgery, up from 192 days a year earlier.
