Canberra grandmother Billie Spencer says her five-year-old granddaughter will have to wait more than three years for a publicly funded specialist appointment, to see if she will join another waitlist for surgery.
Ms Spencer said her granddaughter suffers from excessive fatigue and struggles to keep her eyes open at school and concentrate.
“She needs to be assessed by a specialist, and we’ve had to wait months,” she said.
Billie Spencer says she is frustrated that the health system forces patients to choose between long waits for public care and costly but timely private care. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
The family concluded they had no other choice but to choose private healthcare.
“I believe in quality healthcare access for everybody regardless of your financial status, and I feel it’s so disgusting that this is where we’re at,” she said.
“[I can’t] believe that children are having to wait, or parents, grandparents are having to pay huge amounts of money to have their health needs met.
“I just feel really frustrated and really sad that our public health system is in this situation. It’s not ok.”Canberrans ‘gobsmacked’ by waitlists
Michael Hickey says he did not expect the wait time for a public specialist appointment to be so long. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Michael Hickey knows this story all too well.
He has already waited more than four years to see a specialist and was “gobsmacked” when he was told he would have to wait another two and a half years.
If the specialist determines he needs surgery, he will then join another waitlist until he is given a surgery date.
He said the lack of transparency about the waitlist to see a specialist made it feel like he was on an invisible waitlist ahead of another waitlist for surgery.
Mr Hickey has been living with a genetic hand condition which gradually leads to a loss of function if not treated.
He joined the public specialist waitlist expecting a fairly smooth process, but the reality did not align with his expectations.
Michael Hickey says a known public waiting list would ensure patients could make more informed decisions about whether to seek private care. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
“There’s nothing but an acknowledgement to say, ‘Thank you, we’ve received your note, your call is important to us, we’ll get back to you,’ and then crickets,” he said.
Mr Hickey said he did not think the wait time would be so long.
“Why aren’t the figures made known up front? Why isn’t there a known waiting list so I can decide to go private if I wished to,” he asked.
“I know it’s expensive but I could’ve saved my pennies, paid cash, and had the operation and been done and dusted.”
Mr Hickey said his injury was not debilitating, but was frustrated that it made hobbies and everyday activities “just that little more difficult”.
Michael Hickey says that without treatment for his genetic hand condition, engaging in his hobbies is made more difficult. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
‘Big number’ of people waiting for outpatient appointments
Mr Hickey and Ms Spencer’s granddaughter are among about 65,000 people who are waiting for outpatient appointments across public hospitals in the ACT.
That figure has been publicly disclosed by Canberra Health Services (CHS) for the first time.
This week, CHS launched a review of specialist and outpatient services. The review follows an independent inquiry into the territory’s health system, which proposed 49 recommendations.
CHS said its review would examine outpatient services and referral pathways to better understand demand.
The review comes amid signs of an improvement in wait times for surgeries in the ACT, with nearly 18,000 elective surgeries completed in Canberra last financial year, according to government data.
Alison Derrett acknowledged that the current waitlist to see a specialist through the public system was “not acceptable”. (ABC News: Mark Moore)
CHS chief operating officer Alison Derrett said demand for outpatient services had been growing with a “big number” of people waiting for appointments.
“We do know that this is a problem,” she said.
“It is not an acceptable position for us to have people on a wait list for an extended period of time, and our clinicians take this very seriously, and I take this very seriously.
“It’s going to be one of those things that is a constant challenge for us … this is not something that will be done in a couple of weeks.
The health body said patients would be contacted in the next couple of months to assess their conditions and confirm whether they still required an appointment.
“This will be something that will take us weeks, months, and possibly up to 12 months,” Ms Derrett said.
For people like Mr Hickey and Ms Spencer’s granddaughter, the wait for an appointment could hardly feel longer.
Editor’s note 10/10/26: A previous version of this story stated that one in 10 Canberrans were on the waitlist to see a specialist. This was incorrect because the 65,000 people on the waitlist includes people from surrounding New South Wales who use the ACT’s health system.