Anton van Heeerden elective surgery

Poor public health planning no excuse – Dr Anton Van Heerden

The pandemic and our response to it has impacted all facets of life. In particular, the sweeping bans on elective surgery have had a devastating impact on community health, none more so than cataract surgery. As we know, this is a quick, highly effective means to reverse blindness. Read More
Elective surgery ophthalmology

Private hospitals must ‘pick up the slack’ amid ophthalmology elective surgery blow out

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) believes private hospitals should play an essential role in clearing the backlog of public elective surgeries. It comes as fresh data shows wait times for ophthalmic procedures increased by 6.5 weeks in 2020-21 compared to pre-pandemic levels and have more than doubled to 172 days for cataract surgery.
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Elective surgery post-COVID

An elective surgery shutdown as part of the COVID-19 response wreaked havoc on an already-stretched hospital system last year. Insight checks in on how each state is faring one year on.
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NSW cataract patients waiting 71 days longer post-COVID 

The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) has criticised major public hospitals in New South Wales for operating at 20% capacity or less, contributing to a wait time blow out for ophthalmic patients who now spend 330 days on average before receiving an operation.
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