Surgery Waits

Knee replacement waiting time at Townsville University Hospital

The median wait for knee replacement — published by the source as "Total knee replacement" — at this public hospital in the Douglas area of Queensland was 318 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
318 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Surgeries completed
142 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Waited more than 365 days
39.4%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 128 public hospitals that published a median wait for this surgery in 2024–25, this one sits at 82 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.

The median wait here has risen from 158 days in 2011–12 to 318 days in 2024–25 — up 101% — while the national median rose from 184 days to 255 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Bundaberg Base Hospital, about 843 km away, at 108 days. Here, 39.4% of people waited more than 365 days for this surgery; nationally it was 23.2%.

Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Total knee replacement" 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 Total knee replacement, 2024–25.
Where Median wait Waited more than 365 days Surgeries
Townsville University Hospital318 days39.4%142 surgeries
Queensland (all public hospitals)266 days21.5%2712 surgeries
Australia (all public hospitals)255 days23.2%17987 surgeries

Where the wait is shorter nearby

Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 255 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 total knee replacement by financial year at Townsville University Hospital, compared with Queensland and Australiadays01252503755002011–122014–152017–182020–212023–242024–25Townsville University Hospital 318QLD 266Australia 255
  • Townsville University Hospital
  • QLD
  • Australia
View these numbers as a table
Median wait in days for Total knee replacement, by financial year. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
Reference periodTownsville University Hospital (days)QLD (days)Australia (days)
2011–12158120184
2012–13294153196
2013–14302146194
2014–1526492191
2015–1623988188
2016–17275140195
2017–18336181198
2018–19353211209
2019–20318233223
2020–21347311308
2021–22370305293
2022–23405334308
2023–24382276265
2024–25318266255

Queensland's quarterly figures for orthopaedic surgery

These are not figures for total knee replacement. 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
208 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Treated within the recommended time
65.9%July to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Still waiting at the end of the quarter
681 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Waiting longer than recommended
84 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025

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

All surgery at Townsville University Hospital · Knee replacement across Australia · Knee replacement in Queensland