A massive backlog of elective surgery patients likely to overwhelm Gold Coast’s public health system
Elective surgery is set resume on Monday, with latest figures revealing how many patients are awaiting procedures.
Gold Coast
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ELECTIVE surgery is set resume on Monday, with latest figures revealing 7237 patients are awaiting procedures across all categories in the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service region.
On March 25 the Government postponed all non-urgent operations to help hospitals focus on treating COVID-19 patients and free up medical staff and supplies.
The suspension applied to both public and private health systems, with only category 1 and some exceptional category 2 surgery allowed to continue.
According to Queensland Health, 1574 elective surgeries were undertaken in February this year compared to 1558 the year before, while 1282 operations were performed last month compared to 1588 in March 2019.
The health department told the Bulletin that last month 99 per cent of patients who were ready for elective surgery were treated within the clinically recommended times.
But for some Gold Coasters, having their surgery postponed has been an incredible burden.
This is particularly the case for Pacific Pines mother of two Cassandra Henry, who was scheduled to have her pelvic mesh removed on March 31 but about 48 hours before her surgery, she received an SMS stating it was cancelled due to coronavirus.
“As a single parent I had to take time off from my business, organising the boys’ dad to come from Sydney to care for them while I was in hospital, and preparing our household for a month or more while I would be recovering,” she said.
Ms Henry said she had been seeking a surgeon to remove the pelvic mesh since 2017, after having ongoing issues since it was implanted in April 2012.
“It has taken a massive toll on my life since receiving the implant and taken a toll physically, financially, emotionally and was a huge strain on my marriage. We divorced in 2014,” she said.
“I began to experience complications fairly soon after the implant, in the form of daily headaches, migraines, dizziness, infections and chronic pain. Six months post implant the infections were occurring two to three times per month and I was hospitalised on more than one occasion.
“Over the years I’ve continued to develop more complications and those I had worsened, so I’m grateful for my profession as a naturopath. Without natural alternatives I doubt I would have been able to maintain much wellness at all.
“In 2018 my blood pathology began showing the precursor to developing an auto-immune disease, so removing the mesh is an urgent priority, my hope being that removing the mesh will halt the development of any auto-immune condition.”
Now without a surgery date, Ms Henry is in limbo after not being able to contact the
Queensland Pelvic Mesh Service (QPMS), which is co-ordinating her surgery.
“After my removal I have to seek a private surgeon to repair the damage, or be added to the public hospital waitlist for a repair, which is currently two to three years,” she said.
Gold Coast Health told the Bulletin QPMS patients would be contacted within the next few weeks because work needed to be done behind the scenes before services resumed, given that many staff were redeployed to work in other areas.
It said “no one would lose their place in the waiting list, however it should be noted that the PM has outlined that the restoration of elective surgery will start with procedures such as endoscopies and paediatrics where clinical wait times have been exceeded”.
Women in pain or concerned were urged to call 13 HEALTH or visit their GP. If symptoms were acute, they should go to the emergency department.
A Queensland Health spokersperson said it was “actively considering a range of options that would support additional elective surgery while maintaining appropriate levels of precautions and safety for both staff and patients’’.
“We hope to be in a position to announce further details regarding elective surgery soon,” the spokesperson said.
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