The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) has warned a $1.5 billion Victorian elective surgery blitz must keen staff welfare and training front of mind, as the state government unveiled new ‘Rapid Access Hubs’ for cataract surgery and similar procedures as part of the plan.
On 3 April, Victorian Acting Premier Mr James Merlino said a record number of patients will receive elective surgery as part of its ‘COVID Catch-Up Plan’ – designed to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 25% and make up for deferred surgeries during the COVID-19 response.
The plan will require the training of more nurses, and opening more theatres for longer – including nights and weekends. It will see 40,000 extra surgeries in the next year, building up to record 240,000 surgeries every year by 2024.
The government also announced new Rapid Access Hubs – which will exclusively perform specific surgeries such as hernia repairs, cataract surgeries and joint replacements – to be established across metropolitan public hospitals allowing surgical theatres, equipment and staffing to be streamlined. This will increase the number of surgeries that can be performed each day.
The first eight hubs will be established in the next year at St Vincent’s on the Park, Broadmeadows Hospital, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital, Sandringham Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and one in regional Victoria with details to be confirmed shortly.
A RACS spokesperson told Insight the plan was a step in the right direction, but it needed to be sustained over a number of years.
“Implementation won’t be straightforward as we need enough lead time to train the required staff and we’ve also got to have the staff available,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve also got to remember that we have an exhausted workforce and must keep their welfare in mind.”
Private steps in to help public
In a Victorian first, the state government also announced Frankston Private Hospital would be transformed into a public surgery centre with the capacity to support up to 9,000 public patients per year once fully operational in 2023.
With no emergency department diverting healthcare workers to more critical patients, this facility will be focussed on COVID catch-up care.
Two additional state-of-the-art theatres will be completed by early next year to boost services at the hospital and provide more options for Victorians waiting for their surgery.
A $475 million investment will support more activity in the public system, including more same-day surgeries, increased twilight and after-hours work, and theatre improvements to increase efficiency and fast-track patients through the system.
More public patients will be treated in private hospitals with a $548 million investment – building upon sector collaboration we’ve seen during the pandemic – with an extra 51,300 Victorians to receive non-urgent surgery by June 2024.
To support the delivery of the new plan and drive long-term improvements and system reforms, a new Chief Surgical Adviser will work with a Surgery Recovery Taskforce to provide clinical expertise and advice.
The government said Victoria’s healthcare workforce will be supported by a package worth more than $80 million to upskill more than 1,000 nurses and theatre and sterilisation technicians, support the training of an additional 400 perioperative nurses and recruit a further 2,000 highly skilled healthcare workers from overseas.
“This plan will see record numbers of Victorians get the surgeries they need, while making sure our frontline workforce is supported,” Merlino said.
“The Prime Minister said he would pay half the costs for COVID-related care in our hospitals, so our nurses and doctors had what they needed to look after people during the pandemic. Now, he’s cutting $1.5 billion out of our health system when patients need it most.”
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