Elective Surgery is planned surgery that can be booked in advance. The planned surgical procedure is a result of an assessment with a patient’s treating specialist. Patients are prioritised for elective surgery based on their health condition and symptoms. The treating specialist will assign a patient’s category at the time of their assessment and are placed on an elective surgery wait list or register. 

To provide a comprehensive picture of the elective surgery urgency, waiting times are guided by three categories. The clinically recommended timeframes for a patient to receive their elective surgery are:

Category 1 – elective surgery required within 30 calendar days 
Category 2 – elective surgery required within 90 calendar days
Category 3 – elective surgery required within 365 calendar days.

In some specialities there are high numbers of patients waiting to receive their elective surgery, which may result in patients waiting longer than clinically recommended.

For further information about elective surgery at Queensland public hospitals, visit Operations and surgical procedures | Health and wellbeing | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au) or Waiting lists | Health and wellbeing | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au).