THE median wait time for non-urgent elective surgery at Sutherland Hospital is 326 days.
At St George Hospital it is 240 days, the latest Bureau of Health Information data shows.
Patients who had a cataract removal at Sutherland Hospital during the July to September quarter waited about 358 days.
The wait time for total knee replacement was 336 days.
Ear, nose and throat patients waited 327 days, compared with 47 days at St George.
The wait time for orthopaedic surgery was 292 days, compared with 40 at St George.
St George and Sutherland Hospital's director of operations, Cath Whitehurst, said the reason for the difference in the median wait times was because Sutherland Hospital performed more non-urgent elective surgery.
St George Hospital was a major tertiary hospital and performed more emergency and acute surgeries, Ms Whitehurst said.
The wait time for general elective surgery at Sutherland is 70 days.
At St George Hospital the median wait time for urgent elective surgery cases is 14 days, while for semi-urgent cases it is 55 days.
At Sutherland, the figure is 18 days for urgent cases and 60 days for semi-urgent cases.
The longest median wait times at St George were for inguinal herniorrhaphy (270 days), tonsillectomy (250 days), varicose veins surgery (191 days) and cholecystectomy (166 days).
There were 1258 elective surgeries performed at St George Hospital during the quarter and 797 at Sutherland Hospital.
"Non-urgent elective surgery (category 3) patients must be treated within 365 days," Ms Whitehurst said.
"The majority of patients attending Sutherland Hospital for non-urgent elective surgery are seen within their clinically recommended time frame and benchmark with other peer hospitals in NSW."
Opposition Leader John Robertson said the "blow-out" in elective surgery wait times at Sutherland Hospital showed "the devastating impact of four years of Liberal cuts".
"If you're stuck waiting for a knee replacement or have a bad back, it ruins your life," he said.
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