Elective surgery waiting lists for ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery at public hospitals were the worst of any speciality in 2023-2024, according to updated data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The average wait time (the 50th percentile) was 111 days for otolaryngology, head and neck surgery. This was more than double the average wait across all elective surgeries of 46 days for non-Indigenous Australians and 56 days for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Extensive waits were recorded for myringoplasty/tympanoplasty with the average wait time (the 50th percentile) being 262 days, and nearly one-third of patients (31.5%) waited more than a year. Ninety percent of patients had the surgery within 632 days.
The speciality performed the worst on all wait time metrics.
While 90% of ENT patients were seen within 429 days, one in six (16.6%) waited more than a year for the surgery compared with 6.4% of patients overall waiting more than a year.
New updates to the AIHW’s MyHospitals platform, released on 6 December 2024, said waiting times for almost all intended procedures decreased compared to 2022–2023 except for increases in median waiting times for tonsillectomy, and myringotomy.
Myringotomy recorded a six day increase from 82 days in 2022–2023 to 88 days in 2023–2024. This was 23 days more than in 2019–2020.
While 90% had myringotomy within 304 days, 5.6% waited more than a year for the procedure.
The update revealed that in 2023–2024 public hospital admissions for elective surgery were the highest on record, with 771,551 patients admitted from all states and territories except the Northern Territory whose data was unavailable. About 8% or 61,130 admissions were for otolaryngology, head and neck surgery.
“While most elective surgeries performed in Australia are undertaken in private hospitals, the information presented in this update provides an overview of elective surgeries from public hospital waitlists,” AIHW spokesperson Ms Clara Jellie said.
“The increase in the number of admissions from public hospital elective surgery waitlists follows a period of considerable disruption to the health system as a result of the pandemic, where we saw fluctuations in the numbers of elective surgeries being performed as outbreaks of COVID-19 impacted patients, and the availability of hospital staff and resources.”
Maldistribution and shortages in the ENT workforce remain an ongoing issue. A Medical Board report released earlier in 2024 showed there were 566 otolaryngologists registered to practise in Australia from January 2024 to March 2024. More than half (57%) were concentrated in just two states.
More reading
566 ENTs practising in Australia, Medical Board report shows
Audiology-led clinics viable for most kids after grommet surgery, WA study finds
RPA Hospital celebrates 40 years since NSW’s first cochlear implant surgery
