Elective surgery as defined in the National Elective Surgery Waiting Times Data Collection.

Indicator procedure as defined in Elective surgery waiting list episode—indicator procedure, code NN.

Waiting time as defined in Elective surgery waiting list episode—waiting time (at removal), total days N[NNN]. Calculated by jurisdictions by subtracting the listing date for care from the removal date, minus any days the patient was waiting with a less urgent clinical urgency category than their clinical urgency category at removal, and excluding days where the patient was not ready for care.

Waiting times are calculated for patients whose reason for removal was:

1. Admitted as an elective patient for awaited procedure by or on behalf of this hospital or the state/territory.
2. Admitted as emergency patient for awaited procedure by or on behalf of this hospital or the state/territory. 

Analysis by state and territory based on location of service.

Analysis by remoteness and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) is based on usual residence of person.

Presented as number of days.

Number of days waited at 50th and 90th percentile.

Calculated overall and for each indicator procedure.

2012–13—State and territory, by indicator procedure (and total) by:

• peer group
• Indigenous status

2011–12 (revised for peer groups and linkage to the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD))—State and territory, by indicator procedure (and total):

• peer group (unlinked data)
• Indigenous status (linked or unlinked data, depending on data availability and quality)

2011–12 (revised for peer groups and linkage to the NHMD)—State and territory, by:

• remoteness (Australian Standard geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Structure) (linked data)
• 2011 Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintiles (linked data)

2011–12 (revised for peer groups and linkage to the NHMD)—Nationally, by:

• 2011 SEIFA IRSD deciles (linked data)
• selected indicator procedures (cataract extraction, cholecystectomy, coronary artery bypass graft, cystoscopy) by 2011 SEIFA IRSD quintiles (linked data)
• indicator procedure, by peer group, by Indigenous status, by remoteness (ASGC Remoteness Structure)(linked data)

Some disaggregations may result in numbers too small for publication.

Most recent data available for 2013 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council (CRC) report: 2011–12.

Indicator procedures are a subset of all procedures, e.g. in 2007–08, approximately 65% of removals did not fall into one of the defined indicator procedures.

For 2011-12 data, the 2011 SEIFA IRSD quintile and decile data will be produced using the Australian Standard Geography Classification geographical unit of Statistical Local Area.  In future years, these data will be produced using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard geographical unit of Statistical Area 2.

The scope of the National Elective Surgery Waiting Times Data Collection is patients removed from waiting lists for elective surgery which are managed by public acute hospitals.