Non-urgent elective surgery will be suspended at Dubbo Base Hospital from Monday due to the current COVID-19 outbreak in the Western NSW Local Health District.
In a statement released this morning, NSW Health said all emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue unaffected.
“This response is a necessary step to ensure we keep staff, patients and members of the public safe and ensure there is bed availability should the need arise,” the health authority said.
“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 and re-prioritised to a more urgent category if required.”
This measure was previously implemented in March 2020 following a decision by National Cabinet, to ensure the resources and capacity required for the COVID-19 response were maintained during the current outbreak.
“The NSW Government is providing an additional $30 million to support private hospitals to undertake additional elective surgery on behalf of the NSW Health system to ensure that patients who have their non-urgent elective surgery postponed will be scheduled for surgery as soon as possible,” NSW Health said.
Non-urgent elective surgery has also been temporarily postponed at public hospitals in in Greater Sydney, excluding the Illawarra Shoalhaven and Central Coast Local Health Districts, from Monday, 2 August.
