What the ABC reported
In September, ABC Hobart reported on a Tasmanian man placed in the most urgent colonoscopy category after a positive bowel screening test. Category 1 cases are meant to be seen within 30 days. Nearly three months later, he was told he could wait six to 12 months. The ABC also noted that, unlike elective surgery, Tasmania doesn't publish endoscopy wait times.
This week, new health department data obtained by the ABC showed the urgent list had grown from about 2,900 patients in mid-2024 to almost 3,900 in June 2026. Over the same period, the share seen within 30 days fell from 27 per cent to about 15 per cent. The Health Minister announced $40 million over three years for about 9,000 endoscopies, aiming to clear the urgent list by mid-2028. She linked part of the demand to the federal bowel screening program, which she said came without extra resources for the states. The Opposition called the funding a short-term fix.
My view
I've been reading Clancy Balen's reporting on this with interest.
This is happening in another state, but it shows the same problem the federal inquiry is examining, from the other side. A screening program finds patients who need a procedure, but the public system doesn't have the capacity to do it on time. Patients are left to wait or pay privately, and the out-of-pocket cost is then debated as if it were the cause.
The new funding will be gratefully received by the people waiting now. But it doesn't really address the long-term improvements the system needs.
Access depends on how the system is designed and funded, and demand created by one level of government needs matching capacity from the system that has to meet it.
See also: Fees are only one side of the equation.
The views in "My view" are my own and do not represent Alfred Health, ANZCA or any other organisation with which I am associated. The reporting section summarises the original articles, which are linked.