Tasmania's Health Dashboard indicated that only 48 per cent of patients were admitted with the clinically recommended time for elective surgery.

When the government announced the data on Friday, they highlighted a decrease in the waiting list for elective surgery since January.

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Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the government was concerned about the results over elective surgery timeframes.

"I do remain concerned about the number of patients that are not receiving elective surgery within the clinically recommended timeframes," he said.

"That is my objective, to ensure that we get elective surgery waiting lists down to that sustainable level."

The government made a $120 million commitment as part of an elective surgery "blitz" during the state election in response to concerns raised by medical bodies.

A four-year elective surgery plan is also under development which will deliver an estimated 22,300 elective surgeries and endoscopies.

RACGP chairman Dr Tim Jackson said the situation highlighted by the data needed to be addressed.

"The situation in Tasmania needs to be addressed, and the solution is right in front of us," he said

"We urgently need to invest more in primary care and preventative health to keep people well, in their community and out of the hospital system."

AMA Tasmanian president Dr Helen McArdle said the health industry suffered from a policy lag when it came to solving problems.

"None of these things are surprises, it's just that it'll take a while to turn things around," she said.

"There's a lag time, you need to recruit staff and build infrastructure ... you don't do that overnight, there's building works and the staffing is a really important issue."

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The elective surgery waiting list has been a long-standing concern during the year.

Mr Rockliff said that the government identified access and flow as the key drivers behind this issue.

"We recognise that access and flow is critically important, we need to ensure that when people present to the emergency department that they are seen [as soon as possible]," he said.

"There are a lot of factors that can support better access and flow, one of those is, of course, more care in the home.

"We're also trying to do is ensuring that where we can prevent people from attending the emergency department ... by receiving primary care outside of the emergency setting, we will do that."

Dr McArdle said the policy commitments from the state government, including elective surgery, were welcome.

"These things are always on our agenda and we keep raising them to encourage faster action but like I say, when you have infrastructure to build like new wards or recruit staff there's always a lag time."

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