CANBERRA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of Australians undergoing elective surgery in public hospitals has hit an all-time high, according to government data.
A report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Friday revealed that there were 771,600 admissions from public hospital elective surgery waitlists in 2023-24, up 5 percent from 735,500 in 2022-23.
Cataract extraction, a procedure that removes a cloudy or opaque lens from the eye and replaces it with an artificial lens, was the most common elective surgery, accounting for 11 percent of all procedures.
Elective surgery refers to all procedures deemed medically necessary, but are planned and not conducted as the result of an emergency, and can be delayed.
"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," AIHW spokesperson Clara Jellie said in a statement.
A 19-percent increase in elective surgeries in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) between 2022-23 and 2023-24 was the biggest of any state or territory.
There was a 12 percent increase in elective vascular surgeries, the largest growth of any surgical specialty.
Half of all patients were admitted to hospital within 46 days of being added to the elective surgery waitlist and 90 percent were admitted within 329 days, down from 49 days and 361 days, respectively, in 2022-23. ■
