---
title: "Where crossing a state border cuts the surgery wait most"
description: "The 25 places where crossing a state border cuts a published public hospital surgery wait the most in 2024–25, computed from hospitals' own published medians and locations."
url: "https://surgerywaits.au/longest-waits/border/"
---

# Where crossing a state border cuts the surgery wait most

The biggest published cross-border difference in 2024–25 was **427 days**: the median wait for eardrum repair was 736 days at [Lismore Base Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/lismore-base-hospital/eardrum-repair/) in New South Wales, and 309 days at [Gold Coast University Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/gold-coast-university-hospital/eardrum-repair/), 95 km away in Queensland.

Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.

Public hospital waiting lists are run state by state, but referrals are not: your general practitioner (GP) can refer you to a public hospital in another state, and for people who live near a border the nearest hospital is often across it. This page ranks the places where that matters most in the published figures.

## The 25 biggest published differences

Public hospitals in different states within 100 km of each other, both publishing a median wait for the same surgery in 2024–25, ranked by the difference — one row per hospital and surgery, against its best cross-border alternative. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.

| Rank | Surgery | Longer wait | Across the border | Distance | Difference |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Eardrum repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/eardrum-repair/) | Lismore Base Hospital, NSW · 736 days | Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD · 309 days | 95 km | 427 days |
| 2 | [Prolapse repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/prolapse-repair/) | Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, QLD · 363 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 28 days | 96 km | 335 days |
| 3 | [Prolapse repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/prolapse-repair/) | Ipswich Hospital, QLD · 343 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 28 days | 99 km | 315 days |
| 4 | [Prolapse repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/prolapse-repair/) | Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, QLD · 340 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 28 days | 84 km | 312 days |
| 5 | [Shoulder joint replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/shoulder-joint-replacement/) | Ipswich Hospital, QLD · 339 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 35 days | 99 km | 304 days |
| 6 | [Knee replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/knee-replacement/) | Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, QLD · 384 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 97 days | 96 km | 287 days |
| 7 | [Shoulder joint replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/shoulder-joint-replacement/) | Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, QLD · 305 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 35 days | 84 km | 270 days |
| 8 | [Dupuytren's contracture surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/dupuytrens-contracture-surgery/) | Robina Hospital, QLD · 347 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 81 days | 20 km | 266 days |
| 9 | [Dupuytren's contracture surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/dupuytrens-contracture-surgery/) | Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD · 344 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 81 days | 29 km | 263 days |
| 10 | [Keyhole sinus surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/functional-endoscopic-sinus-surgery/) | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 340 days | Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD · 81 days | 29 km | 259 days |
| 11 | [Knee replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/knee-replacement/) | Logan Hospital, QLD · 350 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 97 days | 69 km | 253 days |
| 12 | [Knee replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/knee-replacement/) | Robina Hospital, QLD · 338 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 97 days | 20 km | 241 days |
| 13 | [Knee replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/knee-replacement/) | Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, QLD · 337 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 97 days | 84 km | 240 days |
| 14 | [Tonsillectomy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/tonsillectomy/) | Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service, QLD · 339 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 109 days | 96 km | 230 days |
| 15 | [Hiatus hernia repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/repair-of-obstructing-hiatus-hernia/) | Lismore Base Hospital, NSW · 301 days | Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD · 78 days | 95 km | 223 days |
| 16 | [Hip replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/hip-replacement/) | Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, QLD · 269 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 68 days | 96 km | 201 days |
| 17 | [Pterygium (eye growth) removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/pterygium-excision-of/) | Murwillumbah District Hospital, NSW · 275 days | Princess Alexandra Hospital, QLD · 76 days | 98 km | 199 days |
| 18 | [Prolapse repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/prolapse-repair/) | Robina Hospital, QLD · 223 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 28 days | 20 km | 195 days |
| 19 | [Shoulder joint replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/shoulder-joint-replacement/) | Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, QLD · 230 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 35 days | 96 km | 195 days |
| 20 | [Knee replacement](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/knee-replacement/) | Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service, QLD · 283 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 97 days | 96 km | 186 days |
| 21 | [Varicose vein surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/varicose-vein-surgery/) | Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD · 324 days | Lismore Base Hospital, NSW · 139 days | 95 km | 185 days |
| 22 | [Deviated septum surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/septoplasty/) | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 363 days | Ipswich Hospital, QLD · 178 days | 99 km | 185 days |
| 23 | [Tonsillectomy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/tonsillectomy/) | Mater Adult Hospital, QLD · 293 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 109 days | 92 km | 184 days |
| 24 | [Tonsillectomy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/tonsillectomy/) | Logan Hospital, QLD · 278 days | Murwillumbah District Hospital, NSW · 99 days | 77 km | 179 days |
| 25 | [Keyhole joint surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/arthroscopy/) | Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, QLD · 223 days | Tweed Valley Hospital, NSW · 50 days | 96 km | 173 days |

## How this is computed

- Both hospitals published a median wait for the **same surgery type** in 2024–25 — nothing is estimated, and a suppressed figure never takes part.
- The hospitals are in **different states** and within 100 km of each other, straight-line between their recorded locations. Distances are approximate and are not road distances.
- The difference is between two published medians. It is **not a prediction** of any person's wait, and a shorter median is not a recommendation.
- Closed hospitals are excluded. Each origin hospital appears once per surgery, against the alternative that saves the most days.

What a cross-border referral actually involves — the clinic queue, who accepts the referral, travel and follow-up — is in [the referral guide](https://surgerywaits.au/guides/referral-to-another-hospital/).

## What is not here

Public hospitals only. Private hospitals do not report to this collection, so their waiting times cannot be compared here.

## 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/longest-waits/border/.