Waiting lists

There should be a way for people who are waiting for surgery/treatment to get a clear idea of how long they need to wait. 

I am waiting for relatively minor gynae surgery, and the only way I could find out was to make an appointment with the hospital surgeon and ask him. 

Would it be possible to have a system so patients could be told an approx time bracket - eg one year, nine months, six months, etc  without having to go to the surgeon, which wastes his time and clogs up the system further. 

Thanks 

Valm 

Because it will bring peace of mind to patients and also make better use of the surgeon's time.