Chris Burton, 46, said he sat in a pre-operation waiting room at the Canberra Hospital for 31 hours across the four days before his November 3 surgery to repair a broken collarbone.

He said other patients – including those with a broken wrist and broken leg – also waited multiple days.

"There were  some people there, elderly people, [who] didn't have a car, could get there on that day and that was it, and when they came out and told them 'sorry, it's not going to happen today', they were devastated -- there were tears, anger," Mr Burton said.

"Most people in Canberra – particularly as we're supposedly the best city to live in the world – would expect something a little bit better than this."

ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said the delays were unacceptable and highlighted the need for statistics to be kept on non-elective surgery wait times.

"We are working in the dark [without figures], but if a patient is advised they're having surgery on a day that should happen – it should be a very rare occasion that they are sent home," he said.

Mr Burton, from Wamboin, fasted from midnight on each of his expected surgery days and sat in a surgical gown for the first two days.

He said he was told by nursing staff on each day there was no guarantee he would be seen, and that a 2-4-day stint in the pre-op waiting room was likely.

"They said it had been like this for years," Mr Burton said.

An ACT Health spokesman said it was not "standard"  for patients to wait for 2-4 days for non-urgent emergency surgeries, and the hospital's emergency theatre was experiencing an increased demand for urgent surgeries during the period. 

"During the time this patient was waiting for surgery, there were 11 surgeries required to be completed in more urgent categories, and 12 in the same urgency category," he said.

A Health spokeswoman said decisions to postpone surgery were made in consultation with treating specialists and were based on the clinical needs and clinical urgency of the patient.

"It is regrettable that this does, at times, cause delays for some patients, however, it does ensure that procedures are conducted safely and appropriately."

The spokeswoman said Canberra Hospital and Health Services were developing protocols aimed at streamlining access for patients and reducing the length of waits for non-elective theatre procedures.

"This will reduce the number of patients who undergo repeat fasting times and re-presentations to theatres for admission," she said.

ACT Health was also "investigating possible options" for a new data set, with statistics on median wait times for non-elective, emergency theatre procedures conducted at Canberra Hospital not available, she said.

The spokeswoman said the emergency theatre was dedicated to emergency cases only.

"Elective surgery does not impact on the emergency surgery list," she said.

The median wait for elective surgery in the ACT has been cut from 76 days in 2011 to 48 days in 2013-14, still above the 36 day national median.