Coronavirus: Elective surgeries and cancer screening set to restart soon

Some states are preparing to resume elective surgeries and health screenings after services were suspended to free up hospital beds.

Some states are preparing to resume elective surgeries and health screenings after services were suspended to make hospital beds and equipment available for an expected influx of coronavirus patients.

Non-essential surgery defined as categories two and three was suspended nationally at the beginning of April after medical colleges, including the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, said continuing non-emergency elective surgery was unnecessarily putting patients and staff at risk of infection with COVID-19

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said the state’s relatively low number of cases — 999 as of Wednesday morning — meant hospitals were preparing to reintroduce elective surgeries.

“We have a high-level taskforce … interpreting how and what elective surgery and screenings can ­recommence,” he said.

“We suspended all non-urgent elective surgery on the expectation that we would see that ­accelerated number of COVID-19 cases. (There is) a very low number in our hospitals … so that means there is scope to recommence surgeries for more urgent, more debilitating cases as well as screenings for those cancers and other diseases which, if we identify them early, we can increase the chance of people surviving.”

Mr Miles said breast screening would be reintroduced as soon as possible. “We don’t want to see women dying of breast cancer ­because they weren’t screened during this pandemic,” he said.

“Wherever possible, and whenever safe, our hospitals will work hard to deliver those services.”

Urgent category one surgeries have been allowed to continue during the pandemic, while category two surgeries will be the first to recommence when the suspension is lifted.

West Australian Health Minister Roger Cook said a decision to resume elective surgery would need to be made after consultation with the national cabinet.

“Any changes to the current situation would also need to take into account the impact on our ICU capacity, the risk to public health and the availability and continued supply of PPE,” Mr Cook said.

However, state AMA president Andrew Miller said a “careful conversation” should start about re­introducing it, given that “a large part of our public and private hospitals are lying idle”.

“It’s a great time to start talking about it, if we have COVID-19 numbers under control and sufficient PPE,” Mr Miller said.

He said most operations fell into categories two and three, from knee and hip surgery to back operations and colonoscopies.

“Now we need a careful conversation about returning to doing some of those procedures,” he said.

Cancer Council Queensland chief Chris McMillan said a restart of elective surgeries and screening would make a big difference in the lives of people impacted by cancer.