Young mum who survived cancer one of thousands waiting for elective surgery

A Geelong cancer survivor has revealed how surgery wait times continue to impact her, as ED delays blow out.

Wait times and presentations have blown out at Geelong hospital’s emergency department.

At Geelong hospital the 90th percentile wait time – the amount of time in which 90 per cent of all patients presenting to an emergency department were seen by a nurse or doctor – blew out to 189 minutes in the June quarter, up from 170 the quarter prior.

While statewide the wait time had also grown, it sat at 136 minutes for Victoria in the June quarter, data from the Victorian Agency for Health Information showed.

Presentations also surged at Geelong hospital’s emergency department, growing from 18,772 in the March quarter to 19,672 in the June quarter.

The percentage of patients treated within the recommended time dropped from 51.49 per cent to 46.9 per cent.

Geelong Hospital wait times have blown out to the 90th percentile. Picture: Alison Wynd

Barwon Health spokeswoman Kate Bibby said the health system was under significant pressure due to the impact of Covid-19, leading to extensive workforce shortages.

She said this was a national issue and included challenges accessing a general practitioner appointment, and access to hospital and community based services including the emergency department.

“Our staff are working hard to ensure we can meet the needs of the community safely,” Ms Bibby said.

“We are constantly monitoring our waiting times for treatment, staffing levels and access to services to ensure the sickest patients and those with the highest needs are treated promptly.”

She said there was increased investment in new roles, including at the emergency department.

Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the latest release of quarterly performance data confirmed Victoria’s health system was under unprecedented pressure – like every health system across the country – from a busy flu season and the continued pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across Australia, health services continued to feel the effects of the pandemic, including COVID-19 cases and workforce shortages from sickness, she said.

She said the government’s $12bn Pandemic Repair Plan was providing the state’s health services with the support and reinforcements they needed.

Head of policy and advocacy for the Victorian Healthcare Association, Juan Paolo Legaspi, said extreme demand for paramedics and emergency department care, driven by Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses, caused longer waits for all types of health care.

“Our public health services are doing everything they can to keep up, but extreme demand appears to be the new norm in Victoria,” he said.

Mr Legaspi said it was time for governments to do more to address the workforce shortage in the public health system.

Mum’s two-year surgery wait

Surgery delays mean breast cancer survivor Sarah Russell is constantly reminded of her health battle.

The 34-year-old St Albans Park mum-of-three was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, aged just 29.

She initially had a lump removed and had four rounds of chemotherapy, before undergoing a double mastectomy at Geelong hospital in September 2018.

Ms Russell had expanders put in as a temporary reconstructive measure so her body could be prepared for implants.

Elective surgery case study

“They told me it would be three months for implants but it ended up being two years,” she said.

“Initially it was just the waitlist had blown out and then you just kept getting put back to the end of the line because it’s not urgent, then Covid as well.”

But after receiving the implants in 2020, Ms Russell said they did not settle as they should.

She said she was placed back on the elective surgery waitlist at Barwon Health in late 2020.

“I’ve been put back on the same waitlist, they first said it’s going to be a year and then it got blown out to another up to two years, so up to three in total,” she said.

She said one side of her chest causes her pain, while the other “looks like someone’s deflated a balloon”.

“Being a young woman I don’t feel like I fit in … it’s no fun being a 34-year-old and looking like this,” Ms Russell said.

Ms Russell said waitlists needed to be reduced.

Sarah Russell and her three sons. Picture: supplied

She said she sometimes felt guilty for being on the list due to corrective surgery while others had more urgent issues.

“But it doesn’t matter if it’s elective or not, we’re still all patients,” she said.

The most recent data released by the Victorian Agency for Heath Information showed Geelong hospital’s elective surgery waitlist was at 2453 patients at June 30.

All category one elective surgery patients were treated in time.

While the waitlist was a reduction from 2650 at March 31, it was much higher than a year prior at 1789 in June 2021.

Barwon Health spokeswoman Kate Bibby said there were a series of new initiatives and investments at Barwon Health to improve access to services.

She said this included additional theatres and inpatient beds at Building B and a new

specialist procedural hub being developed to provide rapid access to minor procedures.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said elective surgery waiting lists across the country had been stretched throughout the pandemic, but Victoria’s had stabilised since the previous quarter and was sitting at 87,275.

She said the government’s $1.5bn Covid Catch-Up Plan was helping the health system catch up on surgery and delivering sustainable long-term changes to support capacity into the future.

Originally published as Young mum who survived cancer one of thousands waiting for elective surgery