Monash Health accused of refusing or delaying operations in push to trim surgery waiting lists

MONASH Health has been accused of refusing or indefinitely delaying operations in a push to trim its surgery waiting lists.

ONE of Victoria’s biggest hospitals has been accused of refusing or indefinitely delaying operations in a push to trim its surgery waiting lists.

Monash Health recently stripped specialist doctors of oversight of surgical waiting lists, instead appointing outpatient triage nurse administrators to oversee referrals.

Sources say the priority classification for some operations has also been changed so that patients who would previously have been booked for an outpatient appointment or put on the surgery waiting list are now automatically rejected without seeing a doctor.

PROBE AS 11 VIC HOSPITALS UNDER-REPORT WAITING LISTS

They say the “non-urgent” classification has also been expanded, so some patients face indefinite waits before they even appear on outpatient lists.

Monash Health confirmed it was overhauling its waiting list processes, but has denied having an automatic “reject” or “non-urgent” list.

Monash Health hospital the Monash Medical Centre.

However, a concerned Australian Medical Association said the head of each surgical unit, or other specialists, must be involved in overseeing waiting lists, which must be based on patients’ clinical needs and not administrative checklists.

“We are disappointed that medical oversight of referrals has been removed,” said Associate Professor Julian Rait, AMA Victoria’s president.

“Some procedures have been reclassified as being inappropriate to be listed for an appointment and possible surgery. Unfortunately, this has occurred without medical consultation.

“Without expert medical opinion, the real clinical needs of the patients concerned might have been overlooked or misclassified … we are concerned about the possible consequences for patients.”

The AMA is now investigating to see how widespread the hit list of “rejected” procedures is, and whether the practice is being undertaken at other public hospitals.

AMA Victoria president Associate Professor Julian Rait.

But in a statement to the Herald Sun, Monash Health denied a blanked ban on any procedures and said it was putting more patients on its waiting lists than ever before.

“Each week we add 650 new patients to our surgical waiting list compared to 400 per week one year ago,” the Monash statement said.

“We are making changes to our processes to ensure urgent cases are seen quickly and to prioritise post-surgery follow-up appointments.

“We have improved our referral guidelines so that all patients are placed on the outpatient waiting list as determined by the clinical head of unit.

“No cases or specific procedures are automatically placed on ‘indefinite’ delay. All cases are assessed individually and are escalated by clinical need.”

WORLD-FIRST TEST DEVELOPED TO DETECT COMMON CANCERS

FACILITY GETS GO AHEAD TO GROW MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Just 18 months ago Monash Health was caught manipulating its waiting lists by incorrectly coding patients having cosmetic-type procedures so they did not appear on a publicly-reported waiting list.

Monash informed the government when its processes uncovered the practice, leading to an inquiry that found problems at 10 more hospitals.

Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge said: “Doctors tell me there is immense pressure on hospitals to report low numbers waiting for surgery, that patients are being inappropriately delayed and that the waiting list numbers can’t be trusted.”

“It’s outrageous that the Labor Government is putting their political gain ahead of the people getting the surgery they need,” she said.

“Daniel Andrews will do and say anything to try and win the election and the manipulation of hospital waiting lists is further evidence of this.

“Daniel Andrews has form on manipulating hospital waiting lists, he did this as Health Minister and is doing it again as Premier.”

[e-mail]

@mcarthurg