Non-urgent elective surgeries have been cancelled for now because of coronavirus. Here’s what that means – ABC News

Updated March 27, 2020 06:26:24

Starting on Thursday, non-urgent elective surgeries in Australia's public hospitals will be suspended.

It's to help preserve resources, including protective equipment, and help the health system prepare for the influx of patients expected in the coming weeks and months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

No. The new rules apply to both the public and private health systems.

They were agreed on by the National Cabinet and apply in every state.

But a late-night amendment to the suspension, announced on Wednesday, will give private hospitals a few extra days before the changes come into place.

Semi-urgent category two and three elective surgeries at private hospitals can continue until 11.59pm on April 1.

There's no clear answer.

The Prime Minister said the suspension was "temporary" and would continue "until further notice".

The Victorian Government said the surgeries would resume only when it was safe to do so, and would consider surge capacity to reduce waiting lists, which would inevitably blow out.

But the timing all depends on how overwhelmed our hospital system gets and for how long.

And Dr Norman Swan told 7:30 the length of the pandemic depends on how successful our personal distancing measures are.

All category three surgeries and most category two surgeries will be temporarily suspended.

According to the National Elective Surgery Urgency Categorisation Guideline published by the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council, surgeries usually deemed category three include:

Only emergency surgeries, category one and some exceptional category two surgeries will continue for now.

Surgeries usually deemed category one include:

Many more surgeries fall into category two, and will continue in urgent circumstances where a delay would cause a risk to the patient.

Many IVF treatments will likely be delayed.

The Fertility Society of Australia has recommended patients talk to their specialist to "discuss the appropriateness of postponing their treatment".

"There may be medical circumstances where delaying treatment may not be advisable and treating specialists should advise their patients if there are medical grounds to commence treatment now," the statement said.

"The Fertility Society of Australia appreciates the needs of individuals seeking assistance to conceive or preserve their fertility but also acknowledges that the overarching responsibility currently is to all patients as part of the Australian and New Zealand healthcare system."

Monash IVF Group chief executive Michael Knaap said it was important the sector helped ensure Australia's healthcare system was best placed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Accordingly, we anticipate that our fertility activity will be impacted as patients defer treatment," he said in an announcement to the ASX.

Suspending elective surgeries will free up beds and health workers to better respond to COVID-19 patients.

But another huge benefit is it will save scarce personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, gloves and goggles.

Doctors have been appealing for more government action to boost supplies of personal protective equipment.

The Federal Government has promised an extra 30 million medical masks in Australia within two weeks, but the director of a company that supplies more than 500 Australian hospitals has warned that "most hospitals" are only days away from running out.

Topics:health,surgical-medicine,surgery,government-and-politics,federal-government,states-and-territories,diseases-and-disorders,covid-19,australia

First posted March 26, 2020 13:59:00

Visit link:
Non-urgent elective surgeries have been cancelled for now because of coronavirus. Here's what that means - ABC News