New leak at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as bombshell email reveals operating theatres are being closed

Doctors are warning that complex elective surgery will be in limbo as the result of a decision to close two theatres at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital “essentially permanently”, according to a leaked email. The memo obtained by The West Australian details plans for a reduced surgery roster at the trauma hospital in Nedlands, and claims it is to free up capacity for the winter strategy that was announced by the Cook Government two weeks ago. “There is a clear commitment to close two operating theatres — essentially permanently — from April 7th,” medical director Michael Levitt said, in an email dated March 9. “Even after this ‘winter strategy’ is finished, the commencement of the Hybrid Theatre building project will result in the ongoing closure. “We need to be open with you that no current plan to correct the shortage of operating theatres — let alone to build the larger theatre capacity that is undeniably required — has yet been progressed. “I want to repeat that Peter and I — and the entire Executive — remain deeply disappointed that this strategy disproportionately impacts patients in need of complex elective surgery. We have no realistic idea how — or when the shortfall in SCGH theatre capacity — will be made up.” Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam claimed it’s more proof the “wheels have fallen off” the Cook Government’s $140 million winter plan that promised to boost capacity by 200 beds. “First, we discovered the hospital system was already under more pressure than last year, with February ambulance ramping hitting a new record,” she said. “Then last month Health Minister Meredith Hammat claimed she “misspoke” when she admitted 200 additional beds at Mount Lawley was really just 100 beds. Now we learn patients waiting for surgery could be pushed aside so theatres can be converted into flu wards.” But the Health Department insisted the closure is for “routine planned” maintenance, short-term, and denied patients will face any major delays. “North Metropolitan Health Service will temporarily close two operating theatres at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for two weeks in April to replace floor coverings,” a WA Health spokesperson said. “During this brief period, the hospital will manage elective surgery within existing capacity. As always, patients will be prioritised according to their clinical needs.” SCGH is one of three hospitals that were the target of a $50m maintenance blitz launched in November after The West Australian’s Hospital of Horrors investigation exposed the extent of disrepair including mould, cracking walls and leaks. Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey said on Thursday that about $35m has now been allocated to specific works, with a $4.5m roof restoration currently underway and due to be finished within weeks. “Some of these issues are complex. Right now we have major cranes on Charlie’s hospital dealing with roof issues. They’re not a walk in the park,” he said. “But I do want to assure you, I am right in there. We’re driving the program, and I’m very pleased that we’ve seen a number of projects completed. Go through Charlie’s. Have a look at the main corridors. Have a look at some of the problem issues that the West Australian identified and they have been fixed.” His office released before and after photos of the Hospital’s D-Block walkway. WA Health data shows there were were 29,403 people on the State’s surgery wait list in January, including about 4800 who have been waiting longer than recommended. At Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital almost 20 per cent of cases had been waiting too long, including 45 category one patients. The Australian Medical Association’s hospital report card released on Thursday reported a “slight” improvement in overall elective surgery wait times, but called out WA for recording the worst category three ED performance in the nation. Only 29 per cent of “urgent” patients were seen within the 30-minute category three target. And there was a “significant decline” in the number of ED patients treated within four hours. “The challenges we face today are not new, nor are they isolated to particular sites or specialties,” AMA WA President Kyle Hoath said. “They are the result of long-term demand that outpaces investment, workforce strain, and hospitals routinely asked to do more than they are resourced to deliver.” Dr Hoath said there has been some “welcome” movement in funding, but that the system remains “well short of where it needs to be”. The Cook Government has mostly blamed a growing and ageing population for putting extra demand on emergency departments. This week, 356 “older patients” were said to be fit for discharge but with no available aged-care placement. The head of the North Metropolitan Health Service — that includes Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital — said the “acuity and complexity” of patients is adding to the problem, when he faced a grilling in Parliament on Tuesday. “We are running high levels of occupancy quite often. It’s above 90 per cent pretty much continuously across our major tertiary sites,” NMHS chief executive Robert Toms said. “That’s really driven by the volume of ‘medically cleared for discharge’ patients that we have in our hospitals. So. in February, that’s been as high as 160 people within North Metro’s hospitals who are actually medically cleared for discharge but without anywhere to go.” He claimed performance on wait times was not getting much worse, or better. “We can see that certain months we actually make improvement year on year,” Mr Toms said. “In other months we are we deteriorate year on year. But generally we’re holding the line in relation to the issues that we’re facing.”