FUNDING cuts that caused a blowout in the waiting list for hip and knee replacement elective surgery at Sutherland Hospital have been reversed.
The decision, allowing a backlog of about 70 operations to be cleared by the end of the year, followed a direct appeal to Health Minister Jillian Skinner by Robert Molnar, the head of orthopaedics at St George and Sutherland hospitals.
Dr Molnar's letter, which was copied to several other recipients, found its way to Miranda MP Barry Collier.
Mr Collier, who passed on the letter to the Leader, said slashing funding to the unit was "sheer lunacy" given Sutherland Shire's ageing population.
Mrs Skinner said in a statement local health districts were responsible for decision-making in their area.
"I understand Dr Robert Molnar recently met with senior executive members of the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District," she said.
"I have also written to Dr Molnar in response to his concerns.
"I am advised that from April 28, the allocated operating time for elective joint replacements at Sutherland Hospital will meet the agreed number of joint replacement surgeries required."
Dr Molnar said the extra funding was welcome.
‘‘Activity restrictions have hurt our ability to meet needs, but the cuts have been reversed and the [local health district] is committed to getting the waiting list back under control by the end of the year,’’ he said. ‘‘We have been out of balance by about 70 operations.’’
Dr Molnar said high-cost orthopaedic surgery was easily targeted when health budgets were stretched.
‘‘But we call it a ‘quality of life’ area, where you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’,’’ he said.
Dr Molnar said the unit would continue to press for a guaranteed funding scheme, similar to that being negotiated between the Institute of Rheumatology and Orthopaedics and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
‘‘With the [ageing population], the need for joint replacement surgery at Sutherland Hospital will increase exponentially over the next 20 years,’’ he said.
‘‘The Department of Health needs to look at what hospitals like Sutherland are doing.
‘‘We perform about 500 joint replacements a year, compared with about 50 a decade ago.’’
HOSPITAL’S HIGH STANDARD
Sutherland Hospital’s orthopaedic unit had worked hard to improve efficiency while maintaining a high standard of patient care, Dr Robert Molnar said.
‘‘I think we have been flying under the radar [in achievements],’’ he said.
‘‘According to the Australian Orthopaedic Association’s national joint replacement registry, we are above average for both hip and knee replacements.’’
‘‘We also participate in ACORN (arthroplasty clinical outcome registry), which reports patient-reported outcomes for many hospitals, and again we perform well.’’
Have you had a long wait for a hip or knee replacement surgery at Sutherland Hospital?