Federal takeover of public hospitals still on cards - govt

The federal government had threatened to take over the public system if the states failed to improve hospitals by the middle of the year.

It set up the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to examine ways to reform the system.

Roxon said the final reports from the commission and the National Preventative Health Taskforce must be considered before a decision on the takeover is made.

The reports are due to be handed to government on Tuesday, but will not immediately be made public.

"We promised that we would consider, in the middle of this year, the future structure of our health system; we intend to do that," she told ABC radio.

A separate report also released on Tuesday shows that waiting lists for patients in the public hospital system are on the rise.

Close to one third of people who present to emergency departments are not seen within the recommended time, an increase on the previous year, the State of Our Public Hospitals report shows.

The average wait for elective surgery is 34 days, two days longer than the year before.

And one in six patients do not get their elective surgery within the recommended time.