COVID-19 blows out NSW elective surgery waitlist

New figures released today show elective surgery waitlists have blown out across most hospitals as the impact of coronavirus takes hold with one Sydney hospital reporting non-urgent elective surgery patients are waiting up to 329 days.

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New figures released today show elective surgery waitlists have blown out across most hospitals as the impact of coronavirus takes hold.

The Bureau of Health Information quarterly report for the January to March quarter not only showed record emergency department activity, but as elective surgery was shut down in late March, the figures give a glimpse into the full impact that will be revealed over the coming months after the suspension of all non-urgent elective surgery to ensure adequate hospital capacity to respond to COVID-19.

The NSW Government has announced a cash injection of $388 million to fast-track elective surgeries which were delayed as a result of the National Cabinet decision on March 25 to suspend non-urgent surgery.

Public hospital waiting lists for elective surgery will not return to pre-pandemic levels until June 2022.

Elective surgery has been incrementally increased since April 27 and will not be restored to 100 per cent until later this year.

NSW Health is working towards the restoration of 75 per cent of elective surgery by 30 June 2020.

Preliminary modelling by Private Healthcare Australia (PHA) of both public and private hospital waitlists last month estimated the number of delayed surgeries across Australia by August 1, 2020 will be about 97,000 in the public system and 194,000 in the private system.

Of the metropolitan hospitals, Westmead reported the largest blowout in both semi urgent and non-urgent elective surgery: from 41 days to 57 days for semi urgent, and from 273 days to 329 days for non-urgent. Westmead became the premier COVID-19 hospital as cases mounted in February and March.

Campbelltown, Bankstown, Fairfield, Hornsby, Nepean, RPA, Royal North Shore, St Vincent’s, and the Children’s Hospital Westmead all recorded blowouts on their non-urgent waitlists. Armidale hospital has been the worst hit of the regionals with non-urgent waitlist not at 363 days.

NSW Australian Medical Association MA President, Dr Danielle McMullen, said the cash investment to address waitlists was welcome but feared nothing would change in the long term.

“We’re only seeing the beginning about how much extra backlog, but we anticipate there will be a significant jump.

“Normally we would be welcoming a cash injection and keen to see some solutions to that waitlist reduction happen, but our concern is the measures proposed are just a band aid solution and a stop gap to short term clear this waitlist, but then we are back to the problem that already existed of expanding waitlists for surgery even before COVID hit

“We need to see some longer term solutions dealing with the increased surgical load that we see in NSW,” Dr McMullen said.