AMA’s shock claim over surgery waitlist side effect

Queenslanders waiting for elective surgeries in certain areas, including parts of the southeast, are becoming addicted to opioids as the waitlists hit crisis levels, the state’s peak medical body warns.

Patients in parts of Queensland are becoming addicted to opioids as they wait for elective surgeries, the AMAQ claims. Picture: iStock

Queenslanders waiting for elective surgeries in the regions are becoming addicted to opioids as the waitlists hit crisis levels, the state’s peak medical body warns.

The shock claim comes from the Australian Medical Association Queensland as it released its Surgical Wait List Roundtable Action Plan.

The waits for gynaecology, orthopaedic, urology and ENT procedures are particularly lengthy warns AMAQ Vice President Emilia Dauway.

Dr Dauway said the plan provides a ready-made road map for the party that wins the October election and urged Labor and the LNP to commit to its implementation.

“We know patients in regional and rural communities have been suffering from inequitable access to elective surgery for too long,” Dr Dauway said.

“Patients in places like Rockhampton, Mackay, Hervey Bay and even outer-metropolitan hospitals like Caboolture, Logan and Ipswich are waiting long periods to get the surgeries they need.

“Tragically, patients also have their surgeries delayed or cancelled because we just don’t have enough anaesthetists. You simply can’t do surgery without them.

“Doctors are increasingly distressed by their patients’ consequent poorer health outcomes and lack of concerted action to save our regional surgical services.

“They are seeing adverse outcomes like increased opioid addiction, worsening chronic disease, longer recovery time, lost work hours and poorer mental health in our regional communities because of this lack of access,” she said

“Even delays for surgeries that would fix incontinence resulting from gynaecological or urological conditions cause real health impacts for patients, like increased risk of UTIs, skin traumas and poor mental health effects.

“Not getting eye surgery when it’s needed can stop people driving and limit their independence, employment and ability to care for their families.”

Dr Nick Yim, president of the AMA Qld, with vice president Dr Emilia Dauway. Picture: Josh Woning

AMAQ President Nick Yim said Queensland was the most decentralised state and the Activity Based Funding model, which rewards hospitals for the amount of services they provide, only punishes regions where services are already unavailable.

Under the Action Plan, operating hours and surgical scheduling would be expanded to deliver all-day lists and seven-day elective surgical lists where workforce permits,and private patients with private billings would be able to be treated in public hospitals.

Doctors from rural and regional areas would be prioritised in specialist trainee selection processes and specialist and subspecialty training in the regions would be increased.

The Action Plan also calls for an overhaul of HHS classifications to better reflect an area’s remoteness and reforms in many areas across funding, outsourcing, care models, employment, training, data, digital technology and broader underlying policy areas.

Queensland Health would be required to provide better financial incentives for metropolitan in-need specialists to move to the regions and create jobs for any of their Queensland Health-employed partners who are willing to relocate.

Senior medics in the areas of anaesthetics, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedics and general practice from across Queensland met remotely from June to September to come up with recommendations.

The Roundtable was based on the AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable which was formed in 2021.