Wait times for elective surgery in Tasmania are growing, according to the Productivity Commission. 

Fifty-one per cent of patients in the most urgent category of Tasmania’s elective surgery waiting list are experiencing extended delays longer than the recommended timeframe of 30 days.

That number is up from just 16 per cent in 2015-16.

Seventy-five per cent of category two patients - who should receive elective surgery within three months - waited longer than the recommended timeframe in 2019-20, up from 54 per cent the previous year and 40 per cent in 2015-16.

Overall, close to 55 per cent of Tasmanians on the waiting list are having to wait longer than clinically recommended.

The Productivity Commission's annual Report on Government Services found that 66 per cent of emergency patients and 58 per cent of urgent cases that present to Tasmanian emergency departments are being seen on time.

Around 60 per cent of Tasmanian ED presentations stay for four hours or less. That figure is declining and is already below the national average of 69.2 per cent.

However, Tasmanian ambulances are taking longer to respond to callouts than anywhere else in the country in 2019-20, with a median response time of 13.8 minutes.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney has acknowledged the report reveals some “significant challenges”, but says the government has already made improvements in staffing and is working on reducing emergency department waiting times.