Surgery Waits

Public hospital surgery waiting times in South Australia

In 2024–25, South Australia's median waits ranged from 5 days for curettage and evacuation of uterus to 497 days for breast reduction, across 40 public hospitals.

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

South Australia public hospitals report their planned-surgery waiting times to the national collection once a year. This page brings the state's figures together: every surgery type with a published state median, every hospital, and the urgency-category performance — each linking to the detailed comparison.

Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick a surgery and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.

Waiting times by surgery in South Australia

Median waiting time by surgery type in South Australia public hospitals, 2024–25, shortest first. Surgeries with the same median share a rank. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
Rank Surgery State median National median Waited more than 365 days Hospitals reporting
1 Curettage and evacuation of uterus 5 days 4 days 0.0% 11
2 Large bowel surgery (colectomy) 17 days 18 days 0.9% 8
3 Breast removal 19 days 19 days 2.0% 7
4 Breast lump removal 20 days 17 days 0.3% 9
4 Lobectomy/wedge resection/pneumonectomy 20 days 17 days 0.0% 4
4 Voice box scope surgery 20 days 26 days 2.5% 6
7 Dialysis access surgery 22 days 15 days 0.3% 2
8 Skin lesion removal 27 days 26 days 1.4% 25
9 Heart bypass surgery 28 days 19 days 0.0% 2
9 Kidney removal 28 days 30 days 2.8% 6
9 Retina surgery 28 days 26 days 3.5% 3
9 Shock wave stone treatment 28 days 28 days 0.0% 6
13 Urinary stone removal 29 days 25 days 0.7% 5
14 Toenail surgery 36 days 48 days 0.9% 16
15 Heart valve replacement 39 days 33 days 0.8% 2
16 Dilatation and curettage 42 days 28 days 2.2% 21
16 Kidney drainage stent insertion 42 days 24 days 2.7% 7
16 Prostate biopsy 42 days 33 days 1.9% 13
19 Bladder scope (cystoscopy) 44 days 26 days 2.6% 22
19 LLETZ procedure 44 days 33 days 0.6% 19
21 Carpal tunnel surgery 49 days 71 days 2.8% 26
22 Gallbladder removal 58 days 48 days 2.9% 24
23 Thyroid gland removal 59 days 56 days 1.7% 7
24 Prostate surgery 60 days 55 days 3.9% 16
25 Keyhole joint surgery 62 days 78 days 3.7% 25
26 ACL reconstruction 66 days 81 days 2.2% 15
27 Inguinal hernia repair 74 days 73 days 4.7% 25
28 Joint replacement revision 76 days 77 days 2.3% 8
29 Eardrum drainage 77 days 80 days 2.2% 19
30 Grommets 78 days 90 days 2.2% 19
31 Hysterectomy 80 days 74 days 9.3% 18
32 Trigger finger release 81 days 90 days 4.6% 19
33 Haemorrhoid surgery 82 days 63 days 3.8% 20
34 Cataract surgery 84 days 106 days 9.0% 20
34 Hydrocele surgery 84 days 95 days 9.4% 22
36 Ovary and fallopian tube surgery 89 days 56 days 4.1% 14
37 Hernia repair 92 days 86 days 11.3% 23
38 Circumcision 97 days 80 days 18.7% 24
38 Hip replacement 97 days 130 days 8.2% 17
40 Keyhole belly surgery (laparoscopy) 104 days 69 days 13.7% 19
41 Shoulder decompression surgery 106 days 92 days 9.4% 15
41 Undescended testicle surgery 106 days 78 days 7.0% 3
43 Tonsillectomy 111 days 182 days 11.4% 18
44 Pterygium (eye growth) removal 117 days 197 days 14.5% 12
45 Adenoid removal 130 days 144 days 13.4% 15
46 Shoulder joint replacement 140 days 174 days 15.3% 13
47 Knee replacement 147 days 255 days 14.7% 19
48 Squint surgery 154 days 155 days 16.2% 5
49 Varicose vein surgery 206 days 133 days 31.6% 4
50 Breast reconstruction 223 days 146 days 28.5% 7
51 Prolapse repair 224 days 165 days 31.3% 14
52 Keyhole sinus surgery 267 days 214 days 28.9% 14
53 Deviated septum surgery 300 days 320 days 23.5% 17
54 Eardrum repair 316 days 264 days 34.5% 11
55 Breast reduction 497 days 309 days 65.2% 7

Treated on time, by urgency category

Urgency figures cover all planned surgery at the hospital, not one procedure. They are never combined with the procedure figures. What each category means, with every hospital compared nationally, is on the urgency categories pages.

Share of patients treated within the clinically recommended time at South Australia public hospitals, by urgency category, 2024–25. Ranked on Category 1 (urgent); hospitals with the same figure share a rank. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
RankHospitalCategory 1 (urgent)Category 2 (semi-urgent)Category 3 (non-urgent)
1 Ceduna District Health Service100%96%100%
1 Clare Hospital100%99%97%
1 Crystal Brook and District Hospital100%52%83%
1 Kangaroo Island Health Service100%100%100%
1 Women's and Children's Hospital100%57%69%
6 Northern Yorke Peninsula Health Service (Wallaroo)99%96%76%
7 Mount Barker District Soldiers' Memorial Hospital98%94%99%
8 Lyell McEwin Hospital97%41%51%
9 Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital96%92%98%
9 Port Augusta Hospital and Regional Health Services96%99%100%
11 Riverland General Hospital94%87%90%
12 Modbury Hospital93%61%70%
12 Noarlunga Hospital93%51%73%
14 Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service92%86%97%
14 Port Lincoln Health Service92%98%100%
16 Angaston District Hospital91%95%99%
16 Flinders Medical Centre91%57%82%
18 South Coast District Hospital89%94%96%
19 Naracoorte Health Service88%89%90%
20 Gawler Health Service85%89%87%
21 Millicent and District Hospital and Health Service82%90%100%
22 Port Pirie Regional Health Service75%59%65%
23 Whyalla Hospital and Health Services74%88%96%
24 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital68%39%43%
25 Royal Adelaide Hospital60%41%61%
unranked Bordertown Memorial Hospitalnot publishednot publishednot published
unranked Jamestown Hospital and Health Servicenot published87%100%
unranked Kapunda Hospitalnot published96%not published
unranked Loxton Hospital Complexnot publishednot publishednot published
unranked Renmark Paringa District Hospitalnot published100%100%
unranked Waikerie Health Servicenot publishednot published100%

Compare a surgery at the big hospitals

Each link is one surgery at one hospital: the published median, the nearest alternatives — including across the border — and fourteen years of history.

Cite this page

In 2024–25, South Australia's published median waits for planned surgery ranged from 5 days for curettage and evacuation of uterus to 497 days for breast reduction, across 40 public hospitals (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).

Copy-ready citation

Surgery Waits, "Public hospital waiting lists in South Australia", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/state/sa/, accessed 28 May 2026.

Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/state/sa/), from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals data, CC BY 3.0 AU. Reference period 2024–25, released 28 May 2026.

Every public hospital in South Australia

Sorted by how many surgery types each reported for 2024–25. A hospital's own page lists every surgery it reports, its urgency-category figures and its history.

What is not here

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

State medians cover everyone who had that surgery in the state, in all urgency categories together — how these figures are put together.