Elective surgery on hold as WA braces for Covid surge

Western Australia has stopped accepting bookings for some elective surgeries as it braces for a surge in Covid cases.

WA Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: Matt Jelonek

Western Australia has stopped accepting bookings for some elective surgeries as it braces for a surge in Covid cases.

State hospitals have been told to stop booking non-urgent elective surgeries from February 28, after Premier Mark McGowan signalled the end of the state’s longstanding “crush and kill” ­approach to the virus.

A record of 65 new cases was reported on Tuesday following an influx of travellers from interstate after a loosening in WA’s border restrictions, with Mr McGowan warning of a “bumpy road” and introducing new protocols to adjust to the rising number of cases.

The government has slashed the period that international and interstate arrivals and close contacts of confirmed cases must spend in isolation from 14 days to seven days.

Mr McGowan said the directive on elective surgeries was part of the government’s plan to manage the growth in cases in the weeks ahead. “Winding back some elective surgery, not all, is an important part of making sure our health system has the ­capacity to deal with people as the case numbers grow,” he said.

“It’s in preparation for a growth in cases to ensure our hospital system is ready for that. It’s what every state in Australia has done and I expect every hospital system around the world has done.”

Despite the state being largely Covid-free until recently, WA’s hospitals have repeatedly cancelled elective surgeries in the past year because of capacity constraints in health system.

The president of the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association, Mark Duncan-Smith, said the decision not to ­accept more elective surgery bookings from February 28 was sensible but there would need to be extra funding to clear the elective surgery backlog once the peak of the outbreak passed.

“This does foreshadow what has always been expected with the cancellation of elective surgery, and certainly we call on the government and the health ­department to have an active plan once we pass the peak of Omicron to get elective surgery up and ­running again as soon as possible,” he said.

The opposition said the decision was further evidence of the capacity limits already in place in WA’s health system before there are any significant hospitalisation numbers from Covid.

Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam said people waiting for elective surgeries were paying the price for the government’s “inability to plan”.

“While the government ­implies this is in preparation for a spike in Covid cases, there can be little doubt that it is also because the system is already at capacity despite two years to prepare for the expected increase in Covid cases,” she said.