The percentage of patients who received elective surgery within the clinically recommended time. 

100 x (Numerator ÷ Denominator)

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

The calculation of waiting time excludes:

• any days the patient was waiting with a less urgent elective surgery urgency category than their urgency category at removal. When a patient's urgency category changes, existing NMDS business rules will apply.
• people who were transferred to another hospital’s elective surgery waiting list, were treated elsewhere but not on behalf of the hospital, were not contactable, died prior to receiving their surgery or declined surgery.

For the purposes of reporting, patients are reported as the final urgency category they were when treated.

Hospital and elective surgery urgency category

The National Elective Surgery Target commenced in January 2012 with the requirement that 100% of all patients in all urgency categories will receive their surgery within clinically recommended times by 2015 for NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, and SA and by 2016 for TAS, ACT and NT. Each state and territory has a different starting point for each urgency category and, accordingly, a different target for each category for December of each year leading up to 2015 (or 2016). These targets are shown in the Table below.

Source: COAG Reform Council. February 2013. Matrix of performance information: National Partnership on Improving Public Hospital Services.

Waiting time is calculated by states and territories by subtracting the listing date for care from the removal date, minus any days the patient was not ready for care and/or waiting with a less urgent clinical urgency category than their clinical urgency category at removal.

There are inconsistencies in application of urgency categories between and within states and territories which impact on the comparability of results.