New surgery hub to help cut waitlists

A NEW hub for surgeries in Geelong is the first of its kind outside Melbourne and will help reduce pressure on the waiting list for procedures.

The $5 million Rapid Access Hub is located inside University Hospital Geelong and will provide a range of specialist services, including general surgery as well as plastic surgery, ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery, and dental procedures.

It is expected to allow more than 700 procedures to move out of the hospital’s main theatres, creating more capacity for both emergency and planned surgery.

Rapid Access Hubs have already been established in Sandringham Hospital, Broadmeadows Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital, St Vincent’s on the Park and the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital.

The final two hubs will open at the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre by the end of the year.

Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas, who visited the Geelong Rapid Access Hub on Thursday last week, said the hubs were part of the Victorian government’s $1.5 billion COVID Catch Up Plan.

“The philosophy of this clinic enables the multidisciplinary teams to see and treat patients in one go,” she said.

“What we know in the past has been that people might come in for an initial appointment and then they’ll have a diagnosis, and then they might come back for another appointment, or indeed they’ll get referred to a surgery list.

“What’s happening here at this specialist clinic is that patients can come in… and be able to be seen and treated at the same time.”

She said the addition of the Rapid Access Hub alongside the hospital’s Youang Surgery Centre meant Barwon Health could deliver up to 2,300 extra surgeries each year.

ENT surgeon Michael Borschmann said Barwon Health’s ENT team was excited about the possibilities presented by the new hub.

“We hope to even work together with general practice and the emergency department to deliver timely and efficient healthcare for the growing needs we’ve got in this region.

“We hope to be able to have rapid access for patients straight from the community with more urgent but not life-threatening things who would otherwise spend a lot of time waiting in the emergency department.”