More Australians left with long waits for elective surgery

Wednesday, 24 August 2022

More Australians left with long waits for elective surgery
More Australians will be waiting longer for essential elective surgery as new data shows 'missing' admissions in
private hospitals have increased to 445,000 since the pandemic began.

The latest data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) shows the gap between expected insured
admissions, or 'episodes of care', in the private sector and what has been delivered is growing steadily, to a total of
445,000 with a further 55,000 missing episodes added this quarter and 145,000 added in the past 12 months.

Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff said it is a worrying trend with state governments
looking to private hospitals to help with public elective waiting lists.

"During this quarter there were no elective surgery restrictions, but private hospital capacity continued to be limited
by staff shortages and absenteeism due to COVID-19 and flu. With infection rates declining it is hoped we can begin
to address this backlog as we move into spring but it is going to take some time to remedy."
Mr Roff said it was encouraging to see the increase in hospital membership, which went up 2.1 percent or by
235,699 people during the year. The increase of 1.8 percent in people aged 20 - 49 years old taking up hospital cover
was also welcomed.

"It is always encouraging to see Australians recognise the value of having access to the high-quality care private
hospitals provide. This may, in part be due to the massive waiting times in the public sector and people wanting to
know they can access health care more rapidly through Australia's private hospitals."
While the faith in the private sector was welcomed, Mr Roff said to meet current and future demand, private
hospitals need access to more health workers in order to provide care.

"The private hospital sector workforce crisis continues to grow. Internal surveys from Australia's private hospitals
show about 8,000 nurses are needed to fill positions around the country and in the short term we need to increase
skilled migration to address this shortfall.

"There are a number of solutions, including doing more to make Australia an attractive place to come to by
increasing residency and citizenship opportunities. In addition, cutting the fees for health workers to register in
Australia and making it easier for employers to bring people here by reducing red tape are all options we would like
the Government to act on.

"Australia also needs to think of the future Australian workforce and training the next generation of nurses. This is
an area where private hospitals already offer training programs and have capacity to do more."
Mr Roff noted some elements of the usual APRA report were missing in this quarters data – mainly the 'deferred
claims liability' statistics, showing the amount of money private health insurers are 'holding' for surgeries
anticipated, but not yet undertaken due to COVID-19 restrictions. This number has been regularly reported since the
June 2020 quarterly data but is no longer available.

-ENDSLevel 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

Media contact: Frith Rayner, Director Communications and Marketing, 0413 971 999

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

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