Coronavirus: Elective surgery under microscope

National cabinet will consider relaxing restrictions on elective surgeries and IVF procedures when it meets on Tuesday morning.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth in Canberra on Monday. Picture: Gary Ramage

National cabinet will consider relaxing restrictions on elective surgeries and IVF procedures when it meets on Tuesday morning in the first major easing of the shutdown measures since the corona­virus crisis.

State and territory leaders will discuss their capacity to resume category two surgeries and allow the resumption of colonoscopy procedures, knee and hip replacements, as well as dental work.

Health officials will advise each state and territory on whether they should resume elective surgery after receiving updates from each jurisdiction on the reserves of personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses.

Under COVID-19-related restrictions announced last month, all non-urgent elective surgery was suspended.

Only category one and urgent category two procedures were allowed to go ahead as leaders moved to ready the hospital system for a spike in life-threatening cases.

The flattening of the curve has occurred quicker than expected and the government has sourced extra medical supplies, including 60 million more masks, with a further 100 million to be obtained within a month.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth said while Scott Morrison had committed to re­assessing social-distancing measures in a month, the reduction in new COVID-19 cases may mean “there is something that may well change within that month”.

“That is the consideration for the reintroduction of elective surgery,” Dr Coatsworth said.

He said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee met on Monday to discuss the conditions that would allow for the reintroduction of elective surgery in Australia and make recommendations to national cabinet.

“We recognise that there are Australians out there who are in pain and have disability, cannot be in the workforce, they need to take very potent pain medication and they need their elective surgery done,” he said.

“The focus at the moment is about us building confidence in the health system by looking at elective surgery resumption … That’s going to be really important for Australians to see that hospitals are safe places to go to for your surgery.”

National cabinet will also discuss the rollout of the coronavirus tracking app that has come under attack from former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.

The Australian Medical Association has put to the Morrison government its own proposal for the resumption of elective surgery, with president Tony Bartone saying doctors should be authorised to make decisions on what surgeries could proceed.

“The AMA supports treatment proceeding as determined by doctors,” he said. “It would be logical to restart procedures at low risk of spreading COVID-19 and of high benefit to the patient, and this would include IVF treatments.”

Dr Bartone said procedures where there was a risk of corona­virus being transmitted should be avoided and category two procedures should gradually be restarted before category three surgeries were considered.

“Many elective surgeries are for health conditions that will only worsen over time,” he said.

“A gradual loosening of restrictions is also consistent with the government’s and the AMA’s view that patients should not ignore existing health concerns, and seek medical care when needed.”

The Australian Society of ­Anaesthetists also cautioned that any lifting of COVID-19 restrictions must be done with caution to ensure that progress made through social distancing was not lost. It suggested that patients should have to undergo 14 days of quarantine before a surgery.