WA Elective Services Target (WEST)
In January 2016, WA Health adopted a new WA Elective Services Target (WEST) which aims to ensure timely access to public elective surgical services. This replaces the National Elective Surgery Target (NEST) following the expiry of the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services in 2015.
In the first quarter of 2016, WEST will maintain the 2015 performance targets for access to elective services. From 1 April 2016, WEST will focus on the percentage of over boundary cases (i.e. those waiting longer than the clinically recommended time) on the waiting list, with a target of 0%.
Further information on elective waiting lists for Western Australian public hospitals is available in the Elective Surgery Wait List Reports.
WA Health’s policy on elective surgery
The Elective Surgery Access and Waiting List Management Policy (MP 0050/17) clearly defines the process to register patients onto the elective surgery waitlist (ESWL) in any WA public hospital or health care facility as well as the principles underpinning this activity. These are:
- Waiting lists are managed to ensure all patients are treated in clinically appropriate timeframes; this management is transparent and client-focused.
- Only patients who are ready for care will be counted and reported as cases on the ESWL.
- The hospital has a duty of care to ensure patients are treated within the assigned urgency category boundary.
- Patients are provided with meaningful information about ESWL; informed consent; and information is routinely shared with the patient’s nominated GP (unless the patient does not consent).
- There is equity of access. All patients will be prioritised based on clinical urgency. Where no clinical urgency differentiation exists, patients will be treated in order of their registration onto the waiting list (first on, first off).
Further information regarding access to surgical procedures for the management of obesity is available in the WA Health Bariatric Surgery Plan (PDF 815KB).
National Elective Surgery Urgency Categorisation
At the request of the COAG Health Council (Health Ministers), the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) have developed national definitions for elective surgery urgency categories.
As well as defining the usual clinical urgency categories for a selection of high volume procedures, the National Elective Surgery Categorisation Guideline (April 2015) (external site) also simplifies the urgency category definitions as follows:
- Category 1: Procedures that are clinically indicated within 30 days
- Category 2: Procedures that are clinically indicated within 90 days
- Category 3: Procedures that are clinically indicated within 365 days.
The national definitions are expected to facilitate access to elective surgery according to clinical need, maximise equity of access, minimise harm associated with delayed access and support an appropriate balance between consistency of practice and clinical decision making.
Related links
WA Health
External Resources
Produced by
Clinical Support Directorate