All elective surgery across Victorian public and private hospitals can resume by the end of the month, as the Omicron wave continues to subside and stabilise, the state government has announced.
Minister for Health Mr Martin Foley has approved a plan that he said balanced the health system response and workforce pressures with ensuring Victorians can access surgery.
The announcements follows a pause on non-urgent elective surgery that came into effect on 6 January as the state battled a rapid rise in Omicron cases. The suspension was lifted a month later on 7 February, with hospitals able to operate at 50% capacity.
Last week, the move was criticised by Melbourne eye surgeon Dr Anton van Heerden who said many cataract patients were sat at home with deteriorating quality of life while day surgeries remained empty ready to operate.
In the latest announcement, Foley said from Monday 21 February public hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne can perform Category 2 surgery.
The minister will also consider further changes to allow all surgery to resume from 28 February, subject to supporting streaming sites, with a focus on treating Category 1 and Category 2 patients within clinically recommended time.
Each hospital will individually assess their own capacity based on staff availability and COVID-19 demands, with 44 hospitals still operating as COVID-19 streaming hospitals.
Private hospitals can also increase their elective surgery activity as long as they can continue to provide support for public hospitals to respond to COVID-19 demands, Foley said.
From Monday 21 February, private hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne can undertake up to 75% of any elective surgery activity, increasing from 50%. The state government will then consider increasing this on Monday 28 February to up to 100%.
In regional Victoria, the cap for private hospitals will increase from the current 75% to up to 100% on Monday 21 February – while regional public hospitals continue to deliver any elective surgery based on their individual capacity.
The rolling seven-day average of COVID-19 hospitalisations is 457 patients, decreasing from a peak of more than 1,200 patients in mid-January 2022.
The number of staff unavailable due to COVID-19 has dropped by around two-thirds, currently at around 1,400 people.
“We understand that this has been a difficult time for many people waiting for surgery and we thank them for their patience while we managed the peak of the Omicron variant,” Foley said.
“With hospitalisations steadily declining and staff availability improving, we’re in a strong position to remove the remaining restrictions and ensure delayed appointments can be rescheduled as quickly as possible.
“Our entire healthcare workforce has done an incredible job getting us through the Omicron wave. Our approach needs to be cautious and steady to ensure they’re able to cope without being further affected by fatigue and furloughs.”
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