Surgery re-categorisation not just an issue at Orange Hospital
Media reports have brought to light damning allegations about the downgrading of urgency of cancer patients and the delaying of their surgery at Orange Hospital.
The practice contravenes NSW Health policy, with the Health Minister announcing a review into the re-categorisation of surgeries undertaken at the hospital following the ABC 7.30 report.
Greens NSW Upper House MP and spokesperson for Health Dr Amanda Cohn asked questions of the Minns Labor government in 2024, which show this is not an issue isolated to Orange.
Surgeons at John Hunter Hospital in the Hunter New England Local Health District made similar allegations last year, stating "resourcing constraints" resulted in the downgrading of clinical urgency categories.
NSW Health released a heavily-redacted report in late 2024, which indicated that two years prior, senior clinicians publicly expressed frustration and desperation about the management of surgical waitlists, “noted to be influenced by non-patient factors such as resourcing constraints or likelihood of exceeding the maximum recommended procedure period”.
At the time, Dr Cohn stated the concerns raised by clinicians about important data being manipulated were extremely serious.
Quotes attributable to Dr Amanda Cohn MLC:
"If resourcing constraints are the real cause of delay to medically necessary surgery, patients, their families and clinicians deserve to know that. Masking this problem by adjusting urgency categories for non-clinical reasons means it can’t be addressed.
“An investigation at the level of Orange Hospital is totally inadequate when we know that this is happening across the state," Dr Cohn said.
"We had reassurances last year from NSW Health that policies were 'clinically appropriate, consistent and equitable' despite the concerns raised by doctors in Newcastle. Clearly, this is not the case, and I call on the Health Minister to take a statewide approach to what is a statewide issue.
"As a GP in regional Australia, I know that delays to surgery are not only distressing for patients and their families but can have serious medical consequences.”
Dr Cohn asked about clinical urgency category decreases in Oct 2024
Dr Cohn asked the Secretary of NSW Health about changes to clinical urgency categorisation in Dec 2024 (from page 10)
Media Contact: Dylan Arvela 02 9230 2566 | [email protected]