Waiting times for elective surgery in Australia 1998-99

This report is an Internet release only. It presents summary 1998-99 elective surgery waiting times data collected by State and Territory health authorities and provided to the National Elective Surgery Waiting Times Data Collection at the AIHW. The data on elective surgery waiting times have undergone considerable improvement over recent years so that, although the quality and comparability of the data could be further improved, the statistics presented in this report have been able to be compiled cautiously. There remain, however, differences among the States and Territories in collection arrangements, in the hospitals included and possibly in the assignment of clinical urgency categories.