Hospital denies delaying critical surgeries, despite unprecedented pressure on health system

A major Melbourne hospital has maintained it’s “prioritising” critical cancer and heart surgeries amid reports important procedures are being postponed due to a surge in Covid cases.

The state government this week declared a code brown for all metropolitan and six regional hospitals, predicting unprecedented pressure would be placed on the health system over the next month.

All but the most essential and urgent medical care will be deferred, workers might have leave postponed and other staff will be redeployed.

But The Age on Thursday reported urgent cancer and heart surgeries were already being postponed during the latest outbreak.

“I acknowledge this is not easy on those patients who are having to wait,” Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Thursday.

“We’ve decided to prioritise the sickest patients. It’s a tough decision to make, but it’s there for a reason.

“I’m not minimising the discomfort and challenges involved for patients who can’t get what they need right now, but once we get past this peak, we’ll do everything we can to get everyone the care they need.”

Covid hospitalisations are expected to reach 2500 by next month, and could hit 100 new admissions a day.

Thousands of healthcare workers have been forced to isolate as the outbreak escalated in recent weeks, with an estimated 5000 workers off work daily at the moment.

With Covid patients flooding major Melbourne hospitals, The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne reportedly delayed several category one elective operations, including for breast cancer, abdominal aneurisms and coronary bypasses, due to staff shortages.

But a spokesperson for the hospital denied the claim, telling NCA Newswire it was continuing to prioritise vital surgeries.

The spokesperson said category one surgeries were still taking place at the hospital, and a small portion would sometimes be carried out by the private sector.

“Alfred Health continues to prioritise category one and other urgent surgeries even during the significant challenges posed at this stage of the pandemic,” the spokesperson said.

“All patients requiring urgent surgeries are being treated within clinically recommended 30-day time frames.”

Victorian paramedics are also reportedly being told to avoid the busiest of emergency departments, even if they are the closest available, to avoid inundating hospitals.

It’s believed once hospitalisations reach 1500 coronavirus hospital admissions, ambulances will transport only emergency or critically ill patients to hospital.

Premier Daniel Andrews this week called the pressure facing health workers “unavoidable” in the face of the current outbreak.

It’s expected hospitalisations may peak in the next few weeks.

“It is very, very challenging at the moment – the system is under unique and unprecedented pressure, it is unavoidable in every way,” Mr Andrews said on Wednesday.

“This virus has infected, or has isolated literally thousands and thousands of health workers, and people are doing the best that they can.”

Matthew Hatfield, the Victorian chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, told The Age it was more challenging to carry out category one surgery at busy metropolitan hospitals.

“The problem is that the Covid-19 and category one surgeries tend to be competing for the same hospitals,” Dr Hatfield said.

“You can’t transfer either Covid patients needing inpatient treatment or category one patients getting inpatient treatments to some of the smaller, more remote or less resourced hospitals … so that’s where the bottleneck is.”

The Victorian opposition on Thursday blamed the crisis on the government’s “lack of investment and mismanagement”.

“We have cancer screenings being delayed, very vital surgery, heart surgery, abdominal aneurisms, breast cancer being delayed,” shadow health minister Georgie Crozier said.

“All of these delays are putting the lives of Victorians at risk.

“This isn’t just two days that our health system has been in crisis, it’s been years in the making.”