Surgery Waits

Tonsillectomy waiting time at Townsville University Hospital

The median wait for tonsillectomy — published by the source as "Tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy)" — at this public hospital in the Douglas area of Queensland was 139 days in 2024–25.

Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released

These figures describe surgery that already happened, not your own wait.

Median wait
139 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Surgeries completed
177 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Waited more than 365 days
11.9%2024–25 · released 28 May 2026

Half the people who had this surgery here waited less than the median, and half waited longer. Of the 114 public hospitals that published a median wait for this surgery in 2024–25, this one sits at 43 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.

The median wait here has fallen from 165 days in 2011–12 to 139 days in 2024–25 — down 16% — while the national median rose from 98 days to 182 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Cairns Hospital, about 288 km away, at 47 days. Here, 11.9% of people waited more than 365 days for this surgery; nationally it was 17.0%.

Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy)" and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.

How this compares

Median wait, long waits and volume for Tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy), 2024–25.
Where Median wait Waited more than 365 days Surgeries
Townsville University Hospital139 days11.9%177 surgeries
Queensland (all public hospitals)115 days4.9%3023 surgeries
Australia (all public hospitals)182 days17.0%16182 surgeries

Where the wait is shorter nearby

Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 182 days marks the national median.

Distances are straight-line, measured between hospital locations, and are approximate. The search covered 1000 km — the radius was widened because fewer than four hospitals published a figure within 250 km.

How the wait has changed

Median wait for tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy) by financial year at Townsville University Hospital, compared with Queensland and Australiadays01002003004002011–122014–152017–182020–212023–242024–25Townsville University Hospital 139QLD 115Australia 182
  • Townsville University Hospital
  • QLD
  • Australia
View these numbers as a table
Median wait in days for Tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy), by financial year. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
Reference periodTownsville University Hospital (days)QLD (days)Australia (days)
2011–121656198
2012–131275698
2013–14945699
2014–157173124
2015–168680120
2016–17858897
2017–1888175121
2018–1984173125
2019–208990130
2020–21322232253
2021–22147102168
2022–23165110174
2023–24144104185
2024–25139115182

Queensland's quarterly figures for ENT surgery

These are not figures for tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy). Queensland reports by surgical specialty, not by procedure. A specialty covers many different operations, so a specialty figure is never a figure for any one of them.

Queensland Health publishes its own figures every three months. They count differently from the national figures above and are never combined with them. This quarter ends after the national reporting period, so it is the more recent of the two.

Covers July to September 2025, published by Queensland Health on 28 October 2025. Reported as Townsville.

Patients treated
194 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Treated within the recommended time
49.0%July to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Still waiting at the end of the quarter
662 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Waiting longer than recommended
264 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025

Public hospitals only — what these figures include and leave out.

All surgery at Townsville University Hospital · Tonsillectomy across Australia · Tonsillectomy in Queensland