Victoria University and Western Health develop new program for patients on waiting list

The surgery wait list has ballooned out to five years in parts of Melbourne but researchers are hopeful a new program will help patients improve their own health while they wait.

Patients in Melbourne’s west are waiting up to five years for osteoarthritis surgery including knee and hip replacements.

A new study of more than 1000 patients has found chronic pain is also causing many to suffer depression and other mental health problems.

Researchers from Western Health in partnership with Victoria University (VU) say a new online program they have developed can help keep these patients active and engaged and improve their health while they wait for specialised appointments or surgery.

Some patients are waiting up to five years for osteoarthritis surgery. Picture: iStock

The researchers found populations serviced by Western Health were particularly vulnerable as they included higher numbers of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

They said socio-economic disadvantage also meant many could not afford private health insurance and experienced challenges navigating the public healthcare system.

Lead researcher Professor Alex Parker from the Institute for Health and Sport at VU has just completed the pilot testing of the tailored intervention online program that she says has helped patients to become active participants in their own health.

“Waitlists for osteoarthritis surgery is a national issue, but it does tend to be longer in the western suburbs or any area with social disadvantage,” Prof Parker said.

The program is part of the Waitlist Project funded by the State Government designed to better understand of the needs of patients suffering long-term osteoarthritis.

“Waitlists for this surgery have ballooned with Covid,” Prof Parker said. “We have done an investigation of Western Health’s orthopaedic waiting list of 4000 patients and found the average time is two to three years, but some patients are waiting up to five years.

“We also looked at the mental health of these patients. We know osteoarthritis does lead to a number of mental health problems, but these rates of depression were higher than expected.

“We were also concerned about the about the reduced levels of physical activity leading to increased risk factors around cardiovascular disease.”

Prof Parker said the program had enormous potential to impact the lives of people languishing on lengthy waitlists.

Professor Phong Tran is the head of orthopaedics at Western Health who is leading the Waitlist Project with Professor Itamar Levinger from VU.

Prof Tran said patients waiting on orthopaedic consultations and surgery were in need of a sustainable, affordable and impactful health plan.

“The Waitlist Project will actively support thousands of people in the west of Melbourne to manage their pain and other symptoms, as well as improve their mental and physical wellbeing,” Prof Tran said.

The free 12-week program includes evidence-based multilingual modules with a focus on physical activity, healthy eating and weight management, pain management, mental wellbeing, medical self-management and social support and community engagement.

Prof Parker said it has the potential to help improve the heath of patients, reduce the need for surgery for some and improve outcomes if they do have surgery

She says the team is now ready to roll out the program for osteoarthritis patients at Western Health, if it can attract funding.

“The urgent next step will be to get around $2 million to enable us to put this solution in place and properly evaluate it,” she said.