String of surgeon resignations in Canberra leaving patients waiting

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Patients say they're languishing in pain as they wait for orthopaedic surgery in Canberra. A string of resignations earlier this year have put extra pressure on the health system.

Transcript

00:00Judy Harman lives in constant pain. After decades as a cleaner, the 71-year-old Canberra

00:09grandmother needs a total knee replacement.

00:12I can hardly get out of bed. I can't get out of the backyard to put the washing on

00:16the line. I can't sleep. I can only lay flat on my back to sleep. Any other position is

00:23very painful.

00:24In February, she was deemed a category two patient, meaning her surgery should have taken

00:29place within 90 days.

00:31It is bone on bone and it cracks all the time.

00:35But then came a letter in the mail.

00:37Your surgeon, Professor Paul Smith, has resigned from Canberra Health Services and will no longer

00:43be available to perform your surgery.

00:46He was one of three orthopaedic specialists who quit back-to-back, citing operational concerns

00:52at Canberra Hospital. Patients say they've been left in limbo.

00:56There must be plenty more like me. They just need new surgeons, yes.

01:01More than 450 category two patients are currently on the wait list for orthopaedic surgery.

01:0753% are failing to be seen within clinically recommended timeframes. Within category three,

01:14where patients should have surgery within a year, 37% of procedures are overdue.

01:20Canberra Health Services says the wait list has remained stable over the past year, despite

01:27losing staff. Recruitment for a new head of orthopaedic surgery has just been finalised.

01:33It is a very good team, the orthopaedic surgery team, and we have been able to reallocate to

01:39surgeons who are in the team with a similar skill set.

01:43The only time that the waiting list was under control was when, post-COVID, when there was

01:47a funding chopper, we actually got the work done.

01:50Judy Harman has been told her surgery will take place, eventually, at Calvary John James Hospital.

01:57And they said, oh no, it won't be this year. There's 200 in front of you.

02:01I just want to be able to get a life again. I mean, I feel like I've wasted, you know, 12 months of my life.

02:07An agonising wait for crucial care.

02:15Thank you, great.

02:20Trainerkin剛ā

02:34vor見

02:38for you

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