---
title: "Guides"
description: "Plain-language guides to public hospital planned surgery: referrals, cancellations, checking your place on the list, emergency versus surgery waits, and public versus private waiting."
url: "https://surgerywaits.au/guides/"
---

# Guides

Plain answers to the questions people bring to a waiting time.

- ## [Emergency department waiting times](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/emergency-department-waiting-times/)

  Emergency department waits and surgery waiting lists are two different things. Where to find your state's official ED waiting times, and what this site covers instead.
- ## [How to check where you are on the waiting list](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/check-your-place-on-the-waiting-list/)

  There is no national portal for checking your place on a public hospital waiting list. Who actually holds your listing, what to ask, and what the published figures can and cannot tell you.
- ## [What happens if your surgery is cancelled](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/if-your-surgery-is-cancelled/)

  Why public hospitals postpone planned surgery, what happens to your place on the waiting list, and the questions to ask when it happens to you.
- ## [Can my GP refer me to a different hospital?](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/referral-to-another-hospital/)

  Yes — including a hospital in another state. What a referral to a different public hospital involves, and the questions to ask your GP first.
- ## [Public and private waiting compared](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/public-and-private-waiting/)

  Why private hospital waiting times are not on this site, what the public figures cover, and what to ask before choosing.
- ## [Urgency categories explained](https://surgerywaits.au/urgency/)

  What Category 1, 2 and 3 mean, the recommended time for each, and how often every public hospital meets it.
- ## [What "elective surgery" means](https://surgerywaits.au/elective-surgery/)

  Why the official word for planned surgery misleads people, and what it actually covers.

## Before you use these figures

Surgery Waits is not medical advice. It republishes official statistics about waiting times that have already happened, and it does not recommend any hospital, doctor or treatment. Your general practitioner (GP) and your treating specialist are the right people to help you decide what is appropriate for you.

**In an emergency call 000.**

Waiting-time figures: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals, licensed under [CC BY 3.0 AU](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/). Quarterly state figures: Queensland Health. Suburb and locality data: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Both licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Surgery Waits is not connected with any of these organisations.

Surgery Waits is published by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/).

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This is the Markdown copy of https://surgerywaits.au/guides/.