'Horrendous, hidden' waiting list new priority for AMA WA
Courtney Trenwith
June 8, 2012


The number of unrecorded WA patients awaiting a specialist appointment has been described as "horrendous".   

The new head of the Australian Medical Association WA has described the "hidden" waiting list of patients waiting for a specialist appointment as "horrendous" and vowed to pursue the government until it is fixed.

The state government estimates about 24,000 people are waiting for a specialist appointment but there is no official data because WA Health only records the number of patients who have already been referred for surgery, of which there are 14,000.

The new AMA WA president Dr Richard Choong, a general practitioner in Perth, believes the figure is conservative and the official waiting list fails to properly show the "tens of thousands" of West Australians suffering additional grief and pain while they waited for an appointment, and then surgery.   


"I'm absolutely horrified by the waiting for the waiting list," Dr Choong said.   

"I've got patients waiting not to have a procedure done but, they're waiting to be seen [by a specialist doctor and] and once they're seen then they're waiting to have the procedure done.

"That's just horrendous because people are left in limbo, they're in pain, they've got issues that need to be resolved but they can't see anyone.

"That is a hidden waiting list."   

Patients were waiting months to see a specialist, while some had no hope of being seen until next year, Dr Choong, who was last night elected as AMA WA president for an initial 12 months, said.

That forced GPs to refer some patients to hospital, where they clogged up already scarce beds.

"There are a lot of instances where I tell patients you won't even be seen in 2012," he said.

"[Patients] are worried, they're concerned and they just don't know what to do and I myself don't know what to do, that's why I send them into a hospital so they can manage that."

Dr Choong said those waiting for particular surgical procedures, to enter a pain management clinic or for pediatric services were suffering the most.   

There also was a lack of understanding of and access to out-patient services, which were becoming increasingly important.

Dr Choong said there needed to be greater accountability, with standards for the waiting time to have a procedure set from the moment a patient is referred to a specialist and not from when they see a specialist.

The UK had successfully set an 18-week benchmark, he said. While that may be too quick in WA, placing a drain on the system, similar targets needed to be set.

"It's a big issue but we need to keep focusing on that issue," Dr Choong said.

Health Minister Kim Hames said calculating the number of patients waiting for a specialist appointment was difficult and WA Health was presently examining options to provide this data so that it was valid and comparable.

He hoped it would become part of WA Health's reporting procedures later this year, making the state the first in Australia to provide such information.

"This is a complex area to report on and I want to ensure that the information being released is accurate," Dr Hames said.

"Initial referral to see a surgeon is to assess if surgery is required; referrals to a specialist may not always result in surgery.

"In addition, patients may be referred to more than one specialist at a time; this means that the number of referrals would not equal the number of patients."

Such data would only ever represent an estimate because a significant number of surgeons provide outpatient clinics in a private capacity, of which WA Health had no statistics, Dr Hames said.

Dr Choong, who will lead the AMA WA in the lead-up to the state election in March, also will lobby for a greater contribution to medical research, which he said had a shortfall of $40 million each year.

"It keeps getting forgotten, it keeps getting left off the budget and it's really important to ensure a sustainable, quality service," Dr Choong said.

"What's really disappointing is that here in WA we have two Nobel laureates and two living National Treasurers who do research.

"If you don't fund research then the quality of your research isn't as good so you can't get more funding so you never get very good research."

The AMA WA has traditionally been perceived as favouring the Labor Party, but Dr Choong said he would not side with any political party in the lead up to the election.   

"We want to deliver the best health outcome for the state and I will talk to both parties fairly and I will point out each party's deficiencies," he said.

comments so far

        Dr Choong, thank you, you rock ! At last, someone who has exposed our 3rd world healthcare system with respect to specialist waiting times. Of course the minister Kim Hames runs for cover, though this problem has been ongoing for well over a decade (from my own experience, even as an HBF private patient, in having to wait months for initial appointments to see a neurosurgeon and an endocrinologist). You've been rightly held to account for this woeful situation Kim Hames. No excuses ! If the UK can implement a system with an 8 week maximum, how in God's name is that not possible here ?!? When a GP makes a referral, that is recorded on a computer, same as processing Medicare details. The referral date, the name / number of the GP and the name / number of the specialist are recorded. When that specialist's receptionist sets the earliest available appointment date, that info is also recorded by Medicare computer and any time gap more than 4 weeks (for private health fund patients, or 8 weeks for non-fund patients) is immediately alerted to the GP, the specialist, WA Health Department, Medicare AND the patient (via email or SMS even), giving everyone a decent KPI system for accountability and traceability of this data. Priority should be given to private health fund members, as that is surely why we pay those exorbitant premiums - for better service ? Genuine non-private cases in severe distress / emergency should still be rushed through emergency hospitals. Fix it Mr Hames - you have no credible excuse not to, especially in this day and age of computers and the internet ! Once again, thank you Dr Choong for doing your job, let's now hope Mr Hames is competent enough to do his.   

    Commenter
        Rick X
    Location
        Northern suburbs, Perth
    Date and time
        June 08, 2012, 1:16PM


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/horrendous-hidden-waiting-list-new-priority-for-ama-wa-20120607-1zynv.html#ixzz1xFouKAyW

Quote:


.......preceded by an incompetent Labor Govt.

Swagman wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 11:27am:




dont point out the bloody obvious ...

in their tiny brains this is all new and just happening right now.

cods wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 11:28am:


See swagman? With application and perspiration you too could achieve this level of drongo.

Gist wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 11:33am:





oh lost the argument,

so bring out the personal attacks..

of course its the lefty way.

mozzaok wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 11:38am:

I think that's a little optimistic, mozz. I cant see state govs supporting their own demise, EVER.

Gist wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 11:32am:


The health system was stuffed by Whitlam and it has got progressively worse.

If you want quality you have to pay for it.

Generations have now grown up and been indoctrinated into thinking that other people should pay for thier heath expenses.  No wonder it's stuffed.

You are correct in one way that NO party has the balls to change this and make people pay because the majority that don't pay control the so called representative Houses of State & Federal governments.

Why would people vote to pay more when they can extort the unrepresented?

mozzaok wrote on Jun 9^th, 2012 at 12:30pm:



Is it unreasonable to expect that people actually pay for their own health expenses FFS?


Most responsible people pay for and insure their house and car but for some idiot reason they expect that the Govt should magically pay for their health expenses?