Hospitals miss target wait times: report

Most Australian states and territories have failed to meet targets for waiting times in hospitals, a new report shows.

In some cases, the majority of goals were reached but overall the COAG Reform Council found public hospitals need to improve performance.

"This means it is almost impossible for any state or territory to achieve the agreed 2015 performance outcome," council chairman John Brumby said.

The mutually agreed 2015 targets include that more than 90 per cent of patients must be admitted to hospital, referred or discharged within four hours of presentation.

There is also an undertaking to reduce elective surgery waiting times.

State and territories are eligible for reward payments of up to $100 million from the Commonwealth if they meet the targets.

The latest council assessment shows "concerning" results for Tasmania and Queensland, both of which only met one of nine benchmarks.

Victoria, NSW and Western Australia partially achieved targets in emergency departments.

The ACT, NSW and South Australia performed well in elective surgery.

Governments should use the findings to help focus their efforts on providing timely emergency department care and elective surgery, Mr Brumby said.