CLAIMS that elderly patients are having to wait more than four months for open heart surgery at St George Hospital have been rejected by the director of operations at St George and Sutherland hospitals, Cath Whitehurst.
It followed claims by a Leader reader that only one cardiothoracic surgeon, Matthew Horton — son of Dr David Horton, who performed the first heart operation at the hospital 27 years ago — was available to perform the surgery.
Ms Whitehurst said the hospital had three cardiothoracic surgeons who performed a full complement of cardiothoracic procedures for more than 355 patients each year; however, she said there were occasions when individual surgeons had longer waiting times due to patient demand.
"Dr Matthew Horton's patients who have concerns about their wait for surgery have been offered alternative surgeons to reduce their waiting time however have elected to continue to wait," Ms Whitehurst said.
"Hospital management is working to reallocate theatre time to reduce waiting times for Dr Horton's patients.
"Patients waiting for surgery have been allocated dates by the hospital and are in the process of being contacted to confirm their dates for surgery.
"Patients with the most urgent need for surgery are always treated as a priority and if more than one patient with the same level of urgency is waiting for surgery, a decision is made by a consultant medical officer."
The federal government's MyHospitals website shows that the median waiting time for all cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital between July 2010 and June 2011 was 17 days compared to the national average of 16 days.
The waiting times for coronary artery bypass graft (also known as heart bypass surgery) during this time was 13 days compared to the national average of 17 days.
At no point during the time period did any patient wait more than a year for either surgery, the figures showed.
The Leader reader said his elderly friends were convinced "they would die before they had their surgery".
"It's just not right, is it," he said.
"Why are there not enough surgeons?"