More peritonectomy surgery will be performed at St George Hospital over the next two months to clear the present waiting list.
The hospital says mother-of-six Galy O’Connor, of St Ives, whose case has received recent media attention, will be among patients who will be offered surgery during this time.
Ms O’Connor has a rare form of asbestos cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma.
Hospital general manager Leisa Rathborne said sessions for peritonectomy surgery were increased from October 17.
Ms Rathbone said the management team met with Professor David Morris on Thursday this week.
“It was confirmed that the hospital has created capacity to provide 30 full operating days between now and the end of the year,” she said.
“There are 25 patients currently on or pending the waitlist.
“This should allow all the patients on the waiting list, including Galy O’Connor, to be offered an operation date this year.
“There are five vacant allocations remaining for additional peritonectomy surgery patients, which is approximately 20 per cent contingency.
“All decisions regarding patient allocation of operating date is undertaken weekly by the Enhanced Multidisciplinary Team (EMDT) which includes Professor David Morris.”
Professor Morris is the only surgeon in NSW qualified to perform the highly complex surgery and is among world leaders in the field.
"We are seeing more women with asbestos-related disease," he told Fairfax Media.
