NSW: Fed up
surgeon warns more will die
Date:
more cancer patients would die unless urgent action
was taken to reduce surgical waiting
lists.
Professor David Morris
resigned last month as divisional director at St George Hospital
because he
believed it was wrong to make patients wait up to six months for an
operation.
Prof Morris said today he'd had great difficulty coping with
the death of two people
who had been waiting for treatment.
"The thing
that I felt was something I really couldn't cope with, was the length of
time
our cancer patients were waiting (for surgery)," he told reporters.
"I
basically only operate on cancer and we have got patients with liver cancer
waiting
three months before their surgery.
"For the more complex
procedure of peritonectomy, we currently have people waiting
six months and I
don't think those waiting times are appropriate.
"I think it's something
I can't be part of in an administrative sense."
Prof Morris said he
believed more people on waiting lists for cancer treatment such
as
mesothelioma and pseudomyxoma peritonei
would die unless a solution was found to the
chronic waiting list
problem.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Bill Glasson said
waiting lists were
to blame for doctors like Prof Morris resigning from their
posts across
"In
frustration at seeing these people languishing on waiting lists doctors say
`I
can't stand it, I'm out of here' because you feel responsible for the
list," he said.
"It's your waiting list and therefore it's your
responsibility."
A tremendous capacity within public hospitals was
under-utilised and the public was
not aware of this, Dr Glasson
said.
"There are teams of surgeons and nurses who stand around waiting to
have access to
theatres," he said.
Health Minister Morris Iemma said
he was disappointed by Prof Morris' decision to step down.
The NSW
government had offered additional support to Prof Morris' specialist
cancer
unit last year, Mr Iemma said.
"I met with David last year and
we made a special allocation to David Morris' unit
at St George of $2.5
million," he told reporters.
"I might also add that (of) the $2.5 million
that was allocated, we've received very
little result in the sense of what
outcomes were achieved ... but it (was given) on the
basis of wanting to
continue to work with David and his unit."
The NSW opposition called for
an independent investigation into Prof Morris' claims
people had died while
waiting for treatment.
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2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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