Surgery costs are higher than necessary and elective waiting lists are too long, according to a report into Victorian public hospital operating theatres.
More can be done to reduce elective surgery wait times and shorten waiting lists, the report released on Wednesday by the Auditor-General's Office concluded.
"Operating theatres are an under-utilised resource across the system. As a result, the costs of surgery are higher than they need to be," it read.
"Victoria is not meeting its access targets for patients waiting for semi-urgent and non-urgent elective surgeries."
Up to a quarter of semi-urgent or "category 2" patients were not treated within the recommended 90-day time frame, the report figures show.
According to the Health Department, from April to June 2017 there were more than 16,700 people on the elective surgery waiting list in the semi-urgent category.
Around 10 per cent of non-urgent elective surgery patients were not treated within the 12-month time-frame set out by the health department, with more than 18,000 on the waiting list for the April to June period.
"Access to each type of surgery varies between health services, with the median waiting time being up to twice as long for the same surgery at different health services," the report reads.
Operating theatres were also not being used effectively.
"Operating theatres are sitting idle for significant periods of time within planned surgical sessions because of late starts and early finishes."
More than half elective surgery sessions started 20 minutes late and up to 10 per cent finished 90 minutes early, the report found.
