Top surgeon Craig Jurisevic says poor resources are leading to avoidable deaths

A top surgeon has walked away from SA’s public health system, lashing out at chronic understaffing he says is leading to avoidable deaths.

Adelaide cardiothoracic and trauma surgeon Craig Jurisevic has quit the public system saying patients are “waiting dangerously long for life saving surgery.”

He will cease all clinical activities at the Royal Adelaide Hospital including outpatient clinics until resources are improved, saying the situation is leading to “avoidable lung cancer deaths.”

Dr Jurisevic says national and international guidelines for best practice in Stage 1 and 2 lung cancer specify a delay of no more than 30 days between diagnosis and surgical treatment, and the mortality rate increases significantly with delays beyond six weeks.

“As it happens, most patients referred for surgery are well along this timeline by the time we see them,” he has told officials.

“This makes the urgency for surgery within 7-14 days of review critical. This is not an attainable goal in the current situation.

“As a result, I can no longer in good faith see patients in clinic knowing that their treatment will be delayed beyond what is recommended by national and international bodies.”

Dr Jurisevic has the support of colleagues and notes “the system is overwhelmed” – even before the borders open to the anticipated surge in Covid cases.

Surgeon Dr Craig Jurisevic is walking away from the public health system.

He has told colleagues Central Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Lesley Dwyer is doing the best she can but “has been handed a steaming turd and, no matter how much her superiors tell her to dress it up, it’s still a steaming turd.

“Until the SA government staff and fund our hospital fully, South Australians will continue to receive substandard care, and we will continue to see avoidable lung cancer deaths.”

He says as soon as the resources are available to treat people appropriately, “I’ll be back”.

Dr Jurisevic also says SA Health is transferring many cases to private hospitals at great expense to the taxpayer rather than increasing staffing at the RAH.

Dr Jurisevic, who is on active duty with the Army, has served in numerous conflict zones including Israel and Gaza, Albania and Kosovo, East Timor, Afghanistan and was senior medical officer on Operation Bushfire Assist on Kangaroo Island for six weeks during the emergency.

His book, Blood On My Hands, details his harrowing experiences in the Balkans when he offered his surgical skills with the International Medical Corps then went on to join forces with the Kosovo Liberation Army, operating on the injured at the front and leading night-time missions behind the lines to retrieve injured Kosovar villagers.

Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said: “We now have an honest picture of what is truly happening in our hospitals. Do you believe a highly respected surgeon that there’s ‘substandard care’ or the Marshall Government’s spin that everything is great?

“This is a further plunging of the health system into crisis. We could not be losing a clinician of the caliber of Dr Jurisevic at a worse time, with record ramping and borders soon to open.”

A Central Adelaide Local Health Network statement says officials are in ongoing discussions with Dr Jurisevic regarding his concerns.

“Each referral to our cardiothoracic department is individually reviewed by highly trained clinicians, and patients with the most serious conditions are prioritised for surgery,” it states.

“We are always exploring and implementing strategies to address wait times and ensure that the best possible care is provided to every patient.

“We recently engaged two private providers to provide surgical services as part of our elective surgery strategy and are exploring an additional surgical session for cardiothoracic to help address periods of high demand.”