Coronavirus: Waiting lists up as surgeries cut

Thousands of patients in NSW failed to obtain elective surgery within clinically recommended timeframes because of the corona­virus pandemic.

Thousands of patients in NSW failed to obtain elective surgery within clinically recommended timeframes because of the corona­virus pandemic, with the total number of operations performed between late March and the end of April dropping by almost 60 per cent.

The NSW Bureau of Health Information’s latest quarterly report reveals the elective surgery waiting list in the state grew by 20 per cent compared with a year ago, with 101,026 patients waiting for surgery as at June 30.

Non-urgent elective surgery was suspended around the country for a month from late March, with a staggered return to full cap­acity from late April in most states except Victoria, which again suspended all non-urgent surgery during a second COVID-19 wave.

NSW Health instructed hospitals to perform elective surgery at 75 per cent of full capacity by July, and since then there has been a full resumption.

 

According to the BHI’s quarterly report, the number of urgent procedures performed remained stable throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of semi-urgent surgeries performed decreased by 27 per cent, and non-urgent surgeries were down by 67 per cent. Despite agreements signed by state governments with private hospitals to free up space in the public system, there were only 1294 elective surgical procedures contracted to private hospitals between April and June, representing 3 per cent of all elective surgeries performed.

State guidelines recommended semi-urgent elective surgical procedures be performed within 90 days, and non-urgent procedures be performed within 365 days. Between April and June, 81 per cent of semi-urgent surgeries were performed on time, and 68 per cent of non-urgent surgeries proceeded within recommended timeframes. Patients needing ear, nose and throat surgery waited the longest.

Of the 101,026 patients on the elective surgery waiting list as at the end of June, 2175 were waiting for urgent surgery, 13,688 for semi-urgent surgery and 85,163 for non-urgent surgery.

The specialties with most patients waiting for non-urgent surgery included orthopaedic surgery and ophthalmology. Most patients waiting for orthopaedic surgery and ophthalmology were waiting for total knee replacement, total hip replacement and cataract extraction procedures.

Despite the blowout in waiting lists, fewer patients were booked in for surgery, reflecting fewer patients presenting to see specialists. Patients added to the elective surgery semi-urgent waiting list declined by 26 per cent compared with a year ago, while numbers added to the non-urgent surgery waiting list were 37 per cent less.