General practitioner perceptions of surgical waiting times.

This study explored general practitioners' (GP) perceptions of waiting times and the importance of these perceptions in choosing a surgeon. A randomly selected sample of GPs in the Hunter Area of New South Wales, Australia, provided information prospectively on patients referred to a surgeon. The results indicated that GPs feel a lack of private health insurance makes only a small difference in waiting time to see a surgeon but a large difference in the waiting time for an operation. Additionally, GPs consider that sizeable numbers of patients will wait longer than they consider reasonable for surgical consultations and procedures. However, perceptions of waiting times do not appear to have a major influence on the choice of surgeon.