Elective surgery in Victoria

Why this is important

Elective surgery is planned surgery that can be booked in advance because of a specialist clinical assessment resulting in placement on an elective surgery waiting list. Patients are given clinical priority depending on the seriousness of their condition. As at April 2024, 67,207 Victorians were on the elective surgery waiting list.

The Department of Health (DH) reports publicly on the number of patients admitted from the elective surgery waiting list through Budget Paper No. 3: Service Delivery and its annual report. DH has failed to meet its target since the measure was introduced in 2019–20.

DH also reports on timeliness of elective surgery. In 2022–23 DH missed 2 of its 3 timeliness targets:

• 74.3 per cent of Category 3 (non-urgent) patients were admitted within 365 days (compared with a target of 95 per cent)
• 55.2 per cent of Category 2 (semi-urgent) patients were admitted within 90 days (compared with a target of 83 per cent).

During the pandemic, the Victorian Government reduced the number of elective surgeries to maximise the health system’s capacity to respond to COVID-19. In the 2023–24 Budget, the Victorian Government announced a $1.5 billion COVID Catch-Up Plan to address elective surgery backlogs. The plan included funding public use of private surgical capacity, increasing activity in public hospitals, setting up Rapid Access Hubs that only perform specific surgeries, and transforming Frankston Private Hospital into a public surgery centre.

The plan aimed to increase the number of elective surgeries to 25 per cent above pre-pandemic numbers. However, DH expects it will only deliver 207,000 elective surgeries against a target of 240,000 for 2023–24.

As part of the 2024–25 Budget, the Victorian Government reduced the elective surgery target to 200,000 for 2024–25. The government said that it lowered the target because the COVID Catch-Up Plan has ended. However, it also noted that there are continuing post-pandemic pressures on hospitals, including high demand for emergency surgery and workforce challenges.

DH need to understand whether the COVID Catch-Up Plan met its objectives and increased the health system’s capacity to perform elective surgeries.

What we plan to examine

We plan to assess whether the COVID Catch-Up Plan increased the number of Victorians receiving timely elective surgery.

Who we plan to examine

DH and selected health services (including hospitals and specialist clinics undertaking elective surgery).