Three new rapid access hubs are opening in Victoria, allowing 6000 additional patients to undergo elective surgery in the state.
The latest one at The Alfred Centre will open on Monday, while the Moorabbin and the Royal Children’s hospitals will start accepting patients from May.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the new hubs, part of the government’s $1.5 billion COVID-19 catch-up plan, were integral to cutting down the elective surgery waitlist
More than 51,000 Victorians underwent their planned surgery in the first quarter of the financial year.
“We’ve learned that if we can separate out our emergency surgery from our planned surgery, we can see greater efficiencies,” Thomas told reporters on Thursday.
The rapid access hubs are used for low-risk procedures like hernia repairs, cataract removals and joint replacements.
Alfred Health’s surgical services director Wendy Brown said the new theatres were specifically designed to get more patients through the door.
“Even if we can save 10 minutes between operations, that’s an opportunity to do one more surgery on the list,” Professor Brown told reporters.
“That’s an opportunity to help one more Victorian – so we’re very excited about it.”
Construction has been completed at another two sites at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Women’s Hospital, with those services set to start admitting patients early this year.
Thomas said the hubs were key to the government reaching its target of 240,000 planned surgeries annually by 2024.
“With 51,000 surgeries conducted in our first quarter, we’d need to be seeing significantly more in the second quarter to be on track for that target,” she said.
“But I will not stop until we reach that target.
“We made a commitment to the people of Victoria that we would not waste a crisis, that we would learn from COVID.”
(7 NEWS)
