Audit background 

Planned or elective surgery refers to a surgical procedure that can be booked in advance, as opposed to emergency surgery that must be performed immediately.

Each year approximately 200,000 patients have planned surgeries in NSW public hospitals. Patients are placed on a hospital’s waiting list and given a clinical urgency priority depending on the seriousness of their condition. Managing waiting lists to ensure patients’ timely access to planned surgeries is a key priority for the NSW Government and NSW Health. 

Audit objective 

This audit will consider whether NSW Health efficiently and effectively provides access to planned surgery. This includes assessment of the following activities and functions: 

• Policies and requirements for the management of surgical waiting lists at hospitals
• Initiatives, plans and strategies to ensure there is capacity to deliver planned surgeries in line with demand
• Collection, quality checking, analysis and reporting of wait list activity and performance data
• Achievement of planned surgery access performance expectations, including timeliness and equitability of patients’ access across NSW.

Estimated tabling period 

Mid-2026 

Audited entities 

NSW Health

You can share information relating to this scope with the audit team. Submissions can be made anonymously. 

Please note that submissions will close on Friday 5 December 2025. 

We may use your submission to identify key themes, risks or issues which may then be further investigated during the audit. In some instances, we may use extracts of submissions in our audit report as examples of feedback provided where appropriate. If we use extracts of a submission, we will not identify the source of the submission in the report. 

However, please note:

• we will not examine individual matters, nor can we investigate all issues or concerns raised. In general, the audit team will look for confirmatory evidence from other sources (such as documentation, data and audit interviews)
• we will not share submissions with any party, including NSW Health, nor do we publish submissions on our website.
• while we will consider all submissions, we may not contact you to discuss your submission
• we are not able to answer questions or provide information collected during the course of the audit
• Performance audits focus on assessing whether public money is spent efficiently, effectively, economically and in compliance with the law. The Auditor-General is not permitted to question the merits of government policy objectives. Click here for more information on how we undertake performance audits¹

¹ Performance audit guide for audited entities