All non-urgent elective surgery has been postponed at a number of private hospitals in St George and Sutherland Shire from today and staff deployed to public hospitals to assist the NSW Government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The NSW Ministry of Health announced last week that private hospital staff would support workforce demands in the NSW public health system and the large-scale vaccination effort currently under way.
As a result, all non-urgent elective surgery was being temporarily postponed at a number of private hospitals.
They include Kareena Private Hospital at Caringbah, St George Private Hospital at Kogarah and Hurstville Private Hospital.
The Ministry said the move had the "full support of the Commonwealth Government through the Commonwealth Department of Health", which had agreed to the "temporary suspension of non-urgent elective surgery to free up staff to support the pandemic response".
"All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue to be performed during this challenging period. People who require emergency surgery will still have access to it.
"NSW Health acknowledges the critical importance of private hospitals in delivering timely and high-quality care for our communities and we thank them for their ongoing partnership in responding to the current pandemic.
"These private hospitals have been conducting additional elective surgery on behalf of the public health system for patients who had their non-urgent elective surgery postponed in 2020, following a National Cabinet decision.
"Ensuring adequate system capacity as well as patient, staff and public safety will be key factors in the delivery of healthcare services during this time.
"Patients due to receive non-urgent elective surgery impacted by these changes are being contacted and encouraged to seek medical attention should they experience a change in their condition so they can be reviewed and re-prioritised to a more urgent category if required."
The full list of impacted hospitals is:
Macquarie University Hospital
Castlecrag Private Hospital
Hunters Hill Private Hospital
Kareena Private Hospital
North Shore Private Hospital
St George Private Hospital
Strathfield Private Hospital
Warners Bay Private Hospital
Westmead Private
Wollongong Private Hospital
Brisbane Waters Private Hospital
Dubbo Private Hospital
Gosford Private Hospital
Hurstville Private Hospital
Lingard Private Hospital
Maitland Private Hospital
Shellharbour Private Hospital
Tuggerah Lakes Private Hospital
Sydney Adventist Hospital
Campbelltown Private Hospital
Hunter Valley Private Hospital
Newcastle Private Hospital
Norwest Private Hospital
Prince of Wales Private Hospital
Sydney Southwest Private Hospital
Nepean Private Hospital
Northern Beaches Hospital
Mater Hospital Sydney
St Vincent's Private Hospital, Darlinghurst.
