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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