Reducing elective surgery waiting times - is more money the answer?

Image source: State of our public hospitals 2009

Performance of public hospitals is rarely out of the news. Attention is often focussed on elective surgery waiting times or episodes of poor care. Recently there have been reports of ward closures in Victoria and the Tasmanian government has announced cuts to elective surgery in an attempt to balance the budget. Likewise, funding arrangements for hospitals are guaranteed to generate community debate, with more, not less, funding often proposed as the answer.

The most recent COAG Reform Council Progress Report presents a sobering, if not contradictory, view of public hospitals in Australia. This report is a high level examination of implementation of the Government’s reform agenda across a range of measures through COAG and National Partnerships Agreements. For hospitals, the report considered changes to hospital funding arrangements including the implementation of the activity based funding arrangements (ABF) and elective surgery waiting times. It also reflects on whether key reform indicators are being met and if progress is being made on key performance indicators.