Health Minister Meredith Hammat refuses to admit to ‘hidden waitlist’ as elective surgery queue takes a cut

More West Australians than ever are being admitted for their long-awaited elective surgeries after the Department of Health recorded its highest number of admissions in a week. Health Minister Meredith Hammat revealed in Budget Estimates on Tuesday there were 4145 elective surgery admissions for the week ending June 22, 11 per cent above the 18-month average. The waitlist has dropped almost 13 per cent since it peaked at 33,206 in May 2022 due to elective procedures being paused during the pandemic. The latest figures from the Department of Health put the current list at 28,996 for May 2025. And since January 2024, the number of patients waiting beyond the recommended time frames for surgery has also fallen 21 per cent. Ms Hammat attributed the drop to an increase in weekend procedures and twilight sedation, when a patient is conscious but sedated instead of being under general anaesthetic. The Health Minister said despite the changing environment thanks to a rapidly growing and ageing population, the government’s “co-ordinated effort across our hospitals is working”. “There’s still work to do, and the Cook Labor Government will keep working with our hospitals to reduce the elective surgery waitlist and deliver the world-class healthcare Western Australians expect,” Ms Hammat said. But these are only reportable cases, the numbers required to be reported to the Commonwealth, and doesn’t take into account “non-reportable” cases. It includes procedures like organ and tissue transplants and dental procedures requiring hospital admission, according to the latest definition. That case load, the Minister said, sits at above 46,000. “At the end of April of this year, 2025, there was a total of 46,226 cases, which are both reportable and non-reportable on the elective surgery wait list,” she told the estimates committee. And as revealed by The West Australian in May, the real number of patients waiting for surgery is obscured by lengthy wait times for outpatient appointments, which does not contribute to the waitlist Ms Hammat refused to admit there was a “hidden waitlist”, as suggested by shadow health minister Libby Mettam. “Elective surgeries are reportable under the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare definition, and so that’s the information that’s available,” she said. “It’s what’s used in every other health jurisdiction around Australia, and the Department of Health’s reporting on elective surgery wait lists is consistent with the national approach.”