News

Statement – Elective Surgery

Jan 16, 2017

Mildura Base Hospital is unable to discuss specific patients’ cases, but emphasises that cancellations occur in only a small percent of elective surgery cases at the hospital.

MBH chief executive Julia Morgan said elective surgery cancellations were sometimes unavoidable and occurred due to pressures on either surgeons or the hospital.

“Of course, our priority is always our emergency responsibilities and an influx of emergency medical admissions sometimes means there is no inpatient bed available for non-emergency surgery,” Ms Morgan said.

“The volume and complexity of emergency surgery cases might also mean a small number of elective surgery cases need to be cancelled or postponed,” she said.

“In other cases, some elective cases might be postponed when surgical sessions run overtime because cases are more complex than expected.”

Ms Morgan said both MBH and surgeons were acutely aware of the stress and frustration for patients and their families when surgery is postponed.

“At all times, elective surgery is individually assessed and prioritised according to the patient’s clinical need, but postponing surgery is always a last resort,” Ms Morgan said. Obviously, multiple cancelations to the same patient is less than ideal and we encourage those patients to contact MBH Management directly with their concerns. Patient feedback is extremely valuable to us and is a key element to ensure service improvement occurs.

“We do our best to keep surgery cancelations to an absolute minimum and in 2015-16 at MBH between five and six percent of surgery cases were postponed, multiple cancellations to the same patient is at a much lower percentage” she said.

Ms Morgan said MBH and Ramsay Health Care were working closely with the Victorian Government to secure an expansion of services to meet the growing needs of the Mildura community.

“We’re pleased at a recent announcement of funding for an extra two beds in our Short Stay Unit,” she said.

“It’s a result of our work in bringing Mildura’s needs to the attention of the Government and testimony to the Government’s commitment to our community.

“We anticipate and are working towards more announcements of this kind as we continue to grow.”