Non-urgent surgery cap to increase

THE cap on non-urgent operations at private hospitals across Victoria has increased by a quarter and public hospitals have resumed up to 50 per cent of surgical capacity in some regional areas.

Beginning last Monday, a new State Government order said public hospitals in Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and the Latrobe Valley will be permitted to resume up to 50 per cent of normal elective surgeries.

Previously, only private hospitals and day procedure centres were permitted to perform non-urgent surgeries up to 50 per cent capacity, but that rose to 75 per cent from Monday.

Major public hospitals in Melbourne and Barwon Health will continue to only provide urgent and emergency surgeries.

This is to ensure there is “adequate capacity within the health system” to care for patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation, the government said in a statement.

The situation will be monitored to ensure there is capacity, in case hospitalisations surge.

“Reducing hospitalisations has given us the flexibility to further expand elective surgery and help ease the burden on Victorians waiting for procedures,” said health minister Martin Foley said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely so that we are ready to respond to any surges in COVID-19 activity, while also making sure we are supporting the dedicated staff who keep our operating theatres running.”

The decision comes after health bodies, including the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, called for the Government to ditch surgery caps all together due to growing wait lists.

RACS sent a proposal to the state’s Department of Health calling on support for “rapid” change to the current system.

The peak body for surgeons in Australia is also seeking for more transparency about how these decisions are made, and says many small private hospitals should be permitted to recommence surgery with no cap, since they do not form part of the COVID response.

However, a Victorian Government spokesperson said it would “continue to adopt a staged approach” to increasing non-urgent surgeries.

As of September 30, 67,000 Victorians were waiting for elective surgeries.

– BY EMILY WOODS/ AAP