Welcome to BCNA @DeeG - and to the club that no-one ever really wants to join! xx
The public system is VERY good and I would be surprised if you have to wait long for your surgery (and some of the surgeons work in the private system as well, so you should not get a 2nd rate surgeon either) as there should be no compromise in quality. I went private for surgery & public for radiation - and had no problems with either (tho the private surgery & subsequent appts etc I ended up with about $10,000 out of pocket expenses over the last 4 years .... but I had NOTHING to pay for the radiation in the public system.)
Hopefully some of our WA members will jump on soon & answer your surgeon query for you - you can also google their name & add 'review' to it & see what pops up! I did that with the 2 surgeons that my GP recommended for me - and one of them had shocking reviews, so I didn't bother contacting them!
Do you live close to the hospital or are you rural/regional/remote? There are fuel & accommodation subsidies available for those who have to travel 100K+ to appointments/services. We have a group that you may like to join, as we share tips & tricks of 'the system' for those of us living away from the big cities.
If you add WA/Perth/Region to your profile, everyone will know where you are from & may be able to assist with other facilities that are available to you. xx
Check out this post, that gives you some tips on the site, including 'tick sheets' that may assist you when seeing your professionals.
https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/23477/a-big-welcome-to-all-our-new-members#latestTake care & all the best - I hope you get to see your surgeon soon xx
