EXCLUSIVE: Will Maclean Hospital lose its surgical ward?

Admission comes less than twelve months after health service unsuccessfully tried to reclassify acute ward

MACLEAN Hospital’s surgical ward may be put under review in the new year after COVID-19 protocols pushed their surgical lists to Grafton the head of the local health service has revealed.

Responding to questions about the latest figures from the Bureau of Health Information on elective surgery, the Executive Officer of Northern NSW Local Health Service Wayne Jones said that there are no surgical lists scheduled for Maclean at this stage.

“The national cabinet decision to suspend non-urgent elective surgery earlier this year, saw surgical services consolidated at Grafton Base Hospital in line with the COVID-19 response,” Mr Jones said.

“On average, there were only around nine surgical procedures performed a month in the first half of the 2019-20 financial year at Maclean District Hospital, and all were minor day-only procedures, with most patients residing outside the Clarence region.

“There are no upcoming surgical lists scheduled for Maclean at this stage. The most recent completed list was in January 2020.

Mr Jones said that the clinical service planning for the redevelopment of the Grafton Base Hospital was expected to commence in the next few weeks, and it would include a review of all surgical services in the Clarence Valley.

“This process may also identify new opportunities to tailor services at Maclean to better meet the particular health care needs of residents in the Lower Clarence,” he said.

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“Representatives from Maclean District Hospital and the Maclean Community Advisory Group will be involved on the redevelopment steering committee, and we look forward to consulting widely with our staff, health partners and community as part of that process.”

According to BHI figures 10 years ago, there were 58 elective procedures performed at the hospital in a three-month period, with 44 general surgery, and 14 orthopaedic.

Elective general surgery stopped in July 2018, with the orthopaedic surgery continuing at around three to nine procedures a month until the COVID shutdown in March.

Earlier this year, the NNSWLHD plan to consolidate the second-floor acute ward of the hospital to a single ward was met with extraordinary community opposition.

Despite their assurances that the move was a redistribution, at public meetings held the community expressed a distrust of the process, which eventually was reversed.

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Mr Jones said that the health district had committed significant efforts and funding to bring elective surgery waiting lists back on track and up to pre-pandemic levels.

In the July-September quarter across the district, 4093 elective surgeries were performed, compared to 3971 in the same period last year. Almost all of the 940 urgent elective surgeries were performed on time. More than 80 per cent of 1544 semi-urgent elective surgeries were performed on time, down in numbers due to the pandemic response.

“Our surgical teams have continued to work extremely hard to recommence elective services in a COVID-safe environment,” Mr Jones said.

“Despite ongoing disruptions and changes they have been able to ensure our communities can continue to receive the care they need.”

In the three month period from July, Grafton Hospital performed 652 elective surgeries, a 14 per cent increase on last year,

or 80 more surgeries, with 99.2 per cent of the 130 urgent surgeries performed on time.

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