New Data Reveals How Long Patients Wait for Cancer Surgery
New information on the time Australian patients wait for surgery to treat cancer has been made available for the first time on the MyHospitals website.
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29 May 2012
New information on the time Australian patients wait for surgery to treat cancer has been made available for the first time today.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said the information had been entered onto the MyHospitals website and showed the median waiting time in days for selected cancer types at participating hospitals around the country.
“The length of time patients wait for surgery to treat cancer can make a critical difference to their wellbeing,” said Ms Plibersek.
Ms Plibersek said she looked forward to “national benchmarks” being developed against which each hospital’s performance can be compared, as agreed by health ministers at the April meeting of the Standing Council on Health.
“Providing more information about the range and location of cancer-related treatment services and waiting times on MyHospitals enables patients to find out more about local services and helps to drive improvements in hospital performance.”
The types of cancer for which waiting times are shown are: bladder cancer, bowel cancer, breast cancer, gynaecological cancer, kidney cancer, lung cancer, melanoma and prostate cancer.
“Waiting times for various types of cancer surgery can differ according to the urgency placed on treating the disease. For example, lung and breast cancer generally have shorter waiting times for surgery than prostate cancer.”
Ms Plibersek said hospitals that do not have cancer surgery waiting time data presented might not undertake cancer surgery or only have a very small number of admissions.
The MyHospitals website, managed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, is an Australian Government initiative to inform the community about hospitals, by making it easier for people to access information about how individual hospitals are performing.
For more information, please contact the Minister’s Office on 02 6277 7220
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