Victorians left suffering with ailments as elective surgery wait list grows

Children, parents and grandparents are being forced to wait months and in some cases six years for surgery they desperately need to get on with their lives.

These are the faces of Victoria’s waiting list crisis.

They are children, parents, grandparents and everyday Victorians wanting to get on with their lives.

Instead, they - and their doctors - are waiting longer than they should for surgery to repair damaged spines, knees, hips and other ailments.

In one case a 15-year-old had to wait a week to have a broken arm fixed after a country rugby game.

As revealed by the Herald Sunthis month, the number of Victorians waiting on elective surgery lists are set to explode by more than 40 per cent in Melbourne while also growing in regional areas.

Associate Professor Julian Rait is an ophthalmologist and President of AMA Victoria. Picture: Supplied

Australian Medical Association Victoria president Professor Julian Rait said doctors, like their patients, were concerned by the lack of transparency around public hospital waiting times. “This includes the time waiting to be seen in specialist clinics along with the length of time it takes for procedures to be performed once they have been booked,” Prof Rait said.

“Given recent hospital funding decisions combined with our growing and ageing population and declining private health insurance rates, this situation has potentially serious implications for patients in our public health system.”

While Victoria’s public hospitals have all been provided funding increases agreements recently signed with the Andrews Government, executives at several hospitals say the allocations are effectively cuts because they do not keep pace with increased demand or cover other areas where funding has been reduced.

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Others sources have raised issues with the funding model that sees hospitals penalised if they treat too many patients.

Under the current activity-based payments, if a hospital treats more patients than outlined in their agreements they are either not paid for the extra cases, or receive a lesser amount.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos yesterday said all Victorian hospitals had received increased funding for the coming year, while the median wait time to receive elective surgery patients had been reduced to 26.

“We understand the anxiety any patient and their family feels while they wait for surgery and will always strive to make that wait as short as possible,” Ms Mikakos said.

“Patients are prioritised based on clinical need.

“Despite strong population growth, the worst flu season on record and savage Federal Government funding cuts, our hospitals are treating more people than ever before and Victorians are waiting less time for elective surgery.”

But, as he waits for a total knee replacement, the words are cold comfort to Benalla’s Richard Amus, 64.

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First placed on the Austin Hospital’s Category 2 90-day elective list in July 2018, by April this year Mr Amus needed a more urgent stomach operation so his knee needs were temporarily suspended.

After a six week recovery Mr Amus resumed his place on the knee replacement wait list.

“It is a long, long time,” he said.

“I like to walk a lot, but I can’t walk much anymore.

“They say there are people worse off than me and I know they are right, so I can’t complain. I know people who can’t walk because their knees are so saw and they are waiting, but this isn’t good.

“I cannot believe what this pathetic government is doing to the hospital system.

“I am in a bit of a dilemma as I can no longer do many things in life, the medication that I am on for the pain is not as effective as it used to be.”

LIFE ON THE WAITLIST

Vikki Poulter was diagnosed two years ago and has been on a waiting list ever since. Picture: Mark Stewart

VIKKI POULTER

What Vikki Poulter misses the most is going dancing with friends.

The teacher has been housebound for the past five months, after a hip dysplasia diagnosis in 2017.

At the time Ms Poulter, 33, was told she needed a hip reconstruction, which has since worsened to a double hip replacement.

She initially paid to see a private specialist, but was referred back to the public system when the extent of her condition was realised.

Ms Poulter said she was put on a consultation waiting list at the Austin Hospital and a year later, in April 2018, was told she was a “Category 3” patient and her waiting time would be at least a year.

She was soon forced to take time off work, unable to stay on her feet for a school day, and has been at home ever since. “My whole life is on hold,” Ms Poulter said. “There are some days I need help putting my socks on.”

Ms Poulter, who is now living with her father, said she was contacted in the middle of this year and told she had progressed to Category 2 and would be treated within 90 days.

She attended pre-operation appointments and was “the next cab off the rank” before sterilisation issues forced the Austin to stop elective surgeries for two weeks. Ms Poulter said she had not been contacted since.

John Baglin has been waiting to have a knee reconstruction for six years. Picture Jay Town

JOHN BAGLIN

Kicking the ball with his grandkids is all but impossible for John Baglin, 67.

He needs a knee reconstruction, but after being classed as ”non urgent” the Healesville man has been waiting for about 700 days.

“I can’t go for a walk around the block,” he said. “I’ve got grandkids, and if you want to go out and kick the ball it’s just impossible.”

Mr Baglin was put on Maroondah Hospital’s outpatient waiting list but, as a result of not being immediately classed under the triage system, is still waiting.

A surgeon contacted Mr Baglin to ask him to get a second referral and come in for an X-ray.

“He said your knee needs to be replaced — I’ll put you on the urgent list and it’ll be done in 60-80 days,” he said.

“That would be three months ago.

“You do get frustrated.”

When contacted by the Herald Sun, an Eastern Health spokesman said confusion in the GP referral had not alerted the hospital to the urgency of Mr Baglin’s condition.

Peter Nunn, 61, has been on the Monash waiting lists for more than six years. He has now moved to Seymour to be the primary carer of his sister Leonie, 46 after the loss of their mum. Picture: Jason Edwards

PETER NUNN

Life has become a lot harder for the Peter Nunn, 61, of Seymour, as he battles a long-running and debilitating undiagnosed condition while looking after his sister.

He has suffered back and neck pain for six years, and more recently developed pain in his shoulders and calf.

He often struggles to care for his sister Leonie, 46 (above), who is intellectually disabled and mute, and little tasks take a lot of effort. Mr Nunn said he saw a doctor in 2015, who referred him to a specialist at Monash Health in November that year.

But he still hasn’t been seen.

“It’s a condition that has never been labelled,” he said. “So my doctors won’t treat it, my neurologist won’t treat it. Everybody is trying to work out what the hell I have.”

Mr Nunn has since been told he is on the waiting list and is slowly progressing, but feels that is little help.

“Why the hell is everything so hard to do?” he said. “I get very frustrated. It’s been so long I just want to work it out.”

In a statement, Monash Health said it received thousands of referrals for elective surgery each year, which were prioritised according to urgency.

“We understand that it can be difficult for patients who wait for elective surgery,” Monash Health said. “We have strict processes in place to ensure our patients are seen in order of urgency.”

Connor Clark-Mills had to wait six days for surgery on his fractured arm after being told it needed urgent surgery. Picture Supplied

CONNOR CLARK-MILLS

A rugby match sent Connor Clark-Mills, 15, straight to the emergency room — but when told he needed immediate surgery, he didn’t expect to wait a week.

Connor, from Donald, broke two bones in his left arm on Wednesday, November 13, while playing rugby at school.

Mum Emily Mills was getting ready to fly to Darwin when she got the call.

“I was actually getting ready to leave at 4pm to go to the airport and I got a call from the school at 3.30pm to say ‘I don’t want to alarm you but we think Connor has broken his arm’. When I got there it was clear there was no ‘think’ about it — it had a nice S-bend.”

He was rushed to hospital in Horsham, then referred to Ballarat Base Hospital for surgery the following day.

Ms Mills said Connor was booked in for 9.30am the next day, but he and his grandparents instead waited all day to be told to go home and wait for a call. He was admitted on Wednesday last week.

“He was just very frustrated and in pain and trying to sleep at night,” Ms Mills said. “They did not get him any pain relief while he was sitting in Ballarat all day. My mum went and got Panadol and Nurofen for him. It was quite the ordeal.”

Anne Herzog has waited about three years for a hip replacement at The Austin Hospital. Picture: Tony Gough

ANNE HERZOG

The 73-year-old Whittlesea woman can’t walk properly on her damaged right hip, but somehow she has managed to jump on and off surgery waiting lists this year.

Ms Herzog said she was put on an Austin Hospital waiting list for hip replacement surgery in January, but taken off in July because she had waited too long. Then, after more tests, she was put on a fresh 90-day waiting list for the same operation, which has now gone into overtime.

“It has got to the stage I am frightened of walking because it is affecting my whole right leg,” Ms Herzog said. “As I walk I get this dreadful pain and feel like my leg is going to fall out from under me.”

An Austin Health source told the Herald Sun records only indicated Ms Herzog had been on its waiting list since June 2019.

After her left hip was replaced in 2017 and her left knee last year, she was scheduled to have her right hip replaced in June last year. But complications from her knee surgery meant her hip operation was delayed until she recovered.

Bob Tait has been on a waiting list to have spinal surgery at Footscray Hospital for two years. He was told he was on a 90-day waiting list - that was 240 days ago and he still has no idea when he'll get his surgery. Picture: Tony Gough

B OB TAIT

For his 88th birthday on November 15, Bob Tait was hoping to get the spinal surgery he needs to get on with his life.

Instead, the Altona man woke up to the news that Victoria’s hospital waiting lists had grown and he was likely to be left in pain even longer.

Diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis in November 2017, he was later put on a 90-day waiting list, which meant he should have had surgery at Footscray Hospital before June 18 this year.

By July 30 he had waited so long he was taken back to hospital for a pre-operation appointment and scans to make sure he was still suitable for the surgery, though not provided a date for the operation.

The 90 days is now 246.

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“I’m still on the waiting list, but they haven’t come back for me. I’ve have interviews, I’ve had MRIs,” he said. “I am having trouble walking and it aches, not like a stabbing pain, but most of the time.”

Western Health executive director of operations Natasha Toohey said referred patients were categorised according to clinical urgency. “If a patient’s clinical condition changes while they are waiting for surgery, they can be reviewed by our staff to ensure they are appropriately waitlisted,” Ms Toohey said.