Some non-urgent elective surgery postponed
It has been agreed that Wollongong Private and Shellharbour Private will continue with their elective surgery lists. The decision has also been made to temporarily postpone some non-urgent elective surgery at Wollongong Hospital
ISLHD media release: Friday, 20 August 2021
In a statement on Friday, August 20, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Chief Executive, Margot Mains said:
In line with the announcement by NSW Health that some private hospitals in Greater Sydney will suspend non-urgent elective surgery to support the COVID-19 response, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) has been in close discussion with our private hospital partners to establish a combined local approach that is most appropriate for our circumstances at this time.
At this stage, it has been agreed that Wollongong Private and Shellharbour Private will continue with their elective surgery lists.
The decision has also been made to temporarily postpone some non-urgent elective surgery at Wollongong Hospital from Monday, 23 August 2021 as follows:
Category C elective surgery and endoscopy procedures will be suspended at Wollongong (Public) Hospital.
Category A and urgent Category B will continue at Wollongong (Public) Hospital. Surgeons have commenced reviewing their patients and they will determine prioritisation of surgery as appropriate.
Surgery at Shellharbour (Public) Hospital and Shoalhaven (Public) Hospital will continue as normal.
The decisions have been made with the goal of maximising our local public/private combined capacity to ensure we keep elective surgery going for as long as we can, in the most appropriate way, while enabling Wollongong Hospital to focus on the most acute and unwell patients.
It also gives us time to appropriately train and redeploy private hospital staff to areas where the support they’re able to provide can be maximised. Our private colleagues know they will need to be ready to assist in areas across the Local Health District that may require additional support.
Those waiting for non-urgent elective surgery who are impacted by the changes will be contacted and encouraged to reach out to their referring doctor should their condition in any way deteriorate, so they can be reviewed.
Non-urgent elective surgery was also temporarily postponed at other public hospitals in Greater Sydney from Monday, 2 August.
From Monday, 23 August, non-urgent elective surgery at many private hospitals across Greater Sydney is also being temporarily postponed to allow for private hospital staff to be deployed to assist with the NSW Government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The NSW Government has committed more than $4 billion to the NSW health system to manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.
