LIMESTONE Coast residents needing to access elective surgery at Adelaide metropolitan hospitals may have waiting times reduced following a landmark agreement between SA Health and 13 health providers.
Patients may now access service earlier at private facilities in a bid to increase capacity in the state’s public hospitals.
SA Health will also explore increasing the number of surgeries carried out at country and peri-urban hospitals and transferring suitable patients between public hospitals that may have a shorter waiting list to ensure overdue numbers remain low and stable.
According to the SA Health elective surgery dashboard yesterday for country South Australia, there are nearly 600 people overdue for elective surgery.
Nearly 40pc of surgeries had been postponed according to the elective surgery public update.
“Public and private hospitals have always worked together, however this has traditionally been done on an ad hoc, non-strategic basis,” Health Minister Stephen Wade said.
“This new agreement allows for better planning and a more streamlined coordination of services to minimise delays for surgery.
“The 13 private providers include day and overnight hospitals which will primarily assist with providing hospital services such as elective surgery and rehabilitation, but also support during emergencies or major incidents.”
SA Health will manage the panel, which ensures the buying power of every taxpayer dollar is maximised.
“We are better coordinating and better utilising South Australia’s health services to ease pressure on our hospitals and better support the health and wellbeing of all South Australians,” Mr Wade said.
Meanwhile, Mr Wade has also announced the number of South Australian patients overdue for elective surgery had been slashed by more than two-thirds thanks to a $45m commitment to reduce elective surgery wait times.
“In just four months, 1293 people have come off the overdue elective surgery waitlist.
As of July 21, there were 615 patients remaining on the overdue list, down 68pc from 1908 on March 20.
Across South Australia, 3pc of people are overdue for elective surgery.
“We’re making sure that our services deliver better value for the taxpayer dollar, but more importantly, we’re making sure South Australians are not waiting to receive the care they need,” Mr Wade said.
“Since our funding started rolling out, the elective surgery overdue waitlists across all metropolitan hospitals have significantly dropped and elective surgery wait times have significantly improved.”
