A number of planned elective surgeries have been put on hold in Western Australia due to a significant surge in demand on hospital emergency departments.
In response to questions from the ABC, Health director general Dr Shirley Bowen said a high volume of patient presentations to WA’s public hospitals overnight on Monday into Tuesday caused the surge.
As a result, a number non-urgent surgeries planned for Wednesday in the metro area have been rescheduled.
The postponement of elective surgeries is a strategy used by health authorities when the system is under pressure.
In November 2021, widespread cancellations of non-urgent surgery across WA occurred during a strain on resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Bowen said that was to ensure access to emergency healthcare for the rest of the week and impacted patients would be notified by their treating hospital.
WA Health Director General Shirley Bowen says a number of non-urgent operations sheduled for Wednesday have been postponed. (ABC News)
“To ensure access to emergency healthcare for Western Australians for the remainder of the week, WA Health is proactively rescheduling some non-urgent surgeries in the metropolitan area,” Dr Bowen said.
“We continue to prioritise our most seriously ill and injured patients.
“Our hospitals continue to carefully manage surgery lists so that our sickest and most urgent cases are cared for promptly.”
Dr Bowen acknowledged that the rescheduling might be “inconvenient and difficult for some patients”.
“We are committed to ensuring patients’ surgery is re-scheduled as soon as possible.”
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