Australians are being forced to wait up to 18 months just to see a public hospital specialist and the hidden problem is just one of many symptoms of a system in crisis because of a funding shortage, the Australian Medical Association says.

Releasing its latest report card on public hospitals, the AMA said the time a patient waits from getting a GP referral to actually seeing a specialist for assessment for surgery was getting longer, yet it is going unreported, calling it the "hidden waiting list".

It was only after patients had seen the specialist that they are added to the official waiting list.

Dr Tony Bartone, AMA vice president and GP, said many patients with cataracts, bowel and prostate issues, chronic joint problems and even those with neurological symptoms are waiting more than 12 months for a consultation.

"Sometimes as much as 18 months, and on a few occasions I have even had the 'house full' sign sent to me," said Dr Bartone.

It could be two-and-a-half years before a person goes under the knife, and this is an "unacceptable" situation in a modern day Australia, he added.

The AMA Public Hospital Report Card2018, released on Friday, also said waiting times for emergency departments had also worsened, with only 66 per cent of urgent presentations seen within the recommended 30-minute time frame in 2016-17.

Australia's governments need to go back to the drawing board on a funding agreement for the public hospital system otherwise patient lives will continue to be at risk, warned the AMA.

It said the Council of Australian Government's current funding agreement for the five years between 2020 to 2025 was not enough to meet community needs, describing it as a "formula for failure".

"The current funding formula will doom our public hospitals to fail, and patients will suffer as a result," AMA president Michael Gannon said.