Orthopaedic surgeons rationed in Australian public hospitals

Australia’s orthopaedic surgeons are under-employed in the public hospital sector and would readily take up additional public appointments or sessions if these positions existed.

“We have an under-utilised orthopaedic surgical force in Australia. There is widespread resistance to putting on younger orthopaedic surgeons who are crying out for appointments and keen to work,” Dr Roger Brighton, Chair of ASOS, said.

“The federal government’s current inquiry into Access and Affordability of Medical Specialists cannot ignore the elephant in the room,” CEO of ASOS Mr Stephen Milgate AM said.

Instead of universal healthcare we have universal rationing. All Australian public hospitals ration orthopaedic surgery.

They do this by under-employing orthopaedic surgeons and limiting their operating capacity under contract. What constrains access to orthopaedic surgery in public hospitals is not a shortage of surgeons.

A senior orthopaedic surgeon in NSW comments as follows:

“I haven’t even mentioned the complexities of providing elective surgery in the presence of limited available beds in an acute care hospital. Last week the cancellations of elective surgery due to no beds, with surgeons available to operate, was terrible.”

Successive governments of all persuasions have presided over the removal of orthopaedic outpatient clinics in public hospitals and the rationing of orthopaedic treatment in public hospitals.1

This is the decision of government, not private medical specialists.

1 The Parliamentary Budget Office estimated that about 310,000 people would be on Australian public elective-surgery waiting lists at 30 June 2026. [It is estimated that 24% of these patients would be orthopaedic patients.] Parliamentary Budget Office ECR-2025-3781