Waiting times for gynaecological cancer surgery.

Aim: This study sought to identify the perceived acceptable waiting times for gynaecological cancer surgery and to audit actual waiting times for gynaecological cancer patients in a tertiary referral service.

Methods: Women attending Gynaecological Outpatients and staff at Christchurch Women's Hospital were surveyed to determine their opinion regarding the acceptable waiting times from referral to diagnosis, diagnosis to treatment plan, and treatment plan to surgery for women with gynaecological cancer. The actual waiting times for patients who had surgery for gynaecological cancer over two 6-month periods at Christchurch Women's Hospital were audited. The waiting times obtained from the audit and the survey were then compared.

Results: Eighty-one patients were approached, and 71 surveys were completed (88%), while 97 surveys were sent to staff with a response rate of 63% (61 returns). There were similar perceptions of maximum acceptable waiting times between patients and staff. The audit reviewed notes of 82 patients. The median waiting time for referral from primary care to diagnosis was longer than the perceived maximum acceptable. However, the median waiting time from diagnosis to treatment plan and from treatment plan to surgery was less than the perceived acceptable maximum.

Conclusions: This study documents perceived acceptable waiting times and actual waiting times for surgery of women with gynaecological cancer within a regional service. This study offers preliminary information towards the development of benchmarks for this service.