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  • 6 weeks ago
A cardiac patient from Sydney's St Vincent's hospital has shared his experience of long delays for triple bypass surgery. Ian Parker waited more than three months for his operation that was meant to be done within thirty days. He says an ABC investigation into surgery delays inspired him to advocate for himself.

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00:00Ian Parker spent several days in St Vincent's Hospital's intensive care unit after triple
00:08bypass surgery in September. He's now back on his feet but his operation was rescheduled
00:14four times before it went ahead. I had a surgical team, I had an operating theatre, I didn't
00:20have an ICU bed. Two of the surgery bookings were cancelled in advance, two were called
00:25off on the day. I came home and I was emotionally upset, it was very upsetting. Ian Parker was
00:36referred in June for the most urgent category of surgery which should be done within 30 days.
00:42While he waited he heard about the long delay for heart surgery Joshua Maxwell experienced
00:47at Westmead Hospital. I saw that story that you did about him and that's what triggered
00:53me I'm going wow am I in the exact same position here. What's the point of giving us documents
00:59that tell us we're going to wait 30 days or 45 days and then have us wait 100 days or 200
01:05days or more? You know how many people have died in that time? Ian Parker wrote a complaint
01:11to St Vincent's. He had his surgery seven days later. My concern is if I hadn't written that
01:18letter would I have had the surgery even now. In a statement St Vincent's Hospital apologised for the
01:25inconvenience and distress to Mr Parker. It said the majority of patients receive their planned surgery
01:31within clinically recommended time frames. When people don't get their elective surgery on time
01:37that's always something I'm concerned about. The health minister has previously announced a review
01:43of surgical and screening waiting lists at Westmead. Ian Parker and Joshua Maxwell want all hospitals examined.
01:51I don't think a statewide view around elective surgery at this stage is necessary.
01:56He says the backlog of overdue surgeries has fallen from more than 14,000 to around 3,000 since Labour was elected.
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