Specialist colleges slam elective surgery ban reversal
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons president says surgeons working in private hospitals were appalled by the government's decision
The Federal Government’s decision to extend the deadline on non-urgent elective surgeries in private hospitals could lead to further shortages of PPE and anaesthetic medicine, doctors have warned.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all non-urgent category 3 procedures and some semi-urgent category 2 surgeries in public and private hospitals would be suspended indefinitely from midnight.
The move was based on advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, in order to conserve PPE and other resources to deal with an expected influx of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
But within hours of Mr Morrison’s announcement, the government extended the deadline for private hospitals by one week, until 1 April.
