Dapto resident Suellen Brockwell broke down in tears when she was told her hip replacement surgery would have to be postponed - indefinitely - last month.
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She understood the Australian government's decision to postpone non-urgent elective surgeries to free up beds and save personal protective equipment amid fears COVID-19 would overwhelm the hospital system.
Yet the pain in her right hip had become so debilitating that she'd not been able to go anyway with a walking stick in one hand - and the hand of her husband Neil in the other.
So when orthopaedic surgeon Dr Anthony Leong rang her last week to tell her restrictions on some types of elective surgery had been eased, she was "over the moon".
This Monday she underwent the operation at Wollongong Private Hospital and her hip pain is gone, she's walking around with an aid and will be home by Friday.
"The original surgery was booked for April 6 and I cried, I was just devastated when it was cancelled," she said.
"I'd been in pain for some six to eight months but it just got progressively worse to the point I couldn't do anything on my own. My hip would just go and I'd start falling."
The 65-year-old is one of the lucky ones - there's many more Illawarra residents still awaiting elective surgery in both the private and public systems.
Urgent procedures have never stopped, but there were restrictions on surgery such as joint replacements, cataracts and eye procedures and endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures from March 26 to April 28.
Wollongong Private Hospital CEO David Crowe said some procedures were still not allowed, and there remained restrictions on the number of operations.
"There's a slow and staged resumption of elective surgery to preserve PPE," he said.
"We've continued to do urgent cases but in the last week or so we have been able to restart other surgeries - such as cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements and surgery on those under 18 has also resumed.
"Certain procedures are not categorised as urgent but for many patients they cause a significant amount of pain and impairment so patients have welcomed the easing of restrictions."
Mr Crowe said while capacity at the hospital had fallen to between 25 to 50 per cent since the COVID crisis, no employees had been stood down.
Instead staff have been trained in the use of PPE so they're prepared if the private sector needs to assist the public system if there's an outbreak of COVID-19.
The private hospital would also assist public hospitals with their elective surgery waiting lists "if and when needed".
Mr Crowe added that the restrictions impacted different specialties, and surgeons, more than others.
For instance another local orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Anthony Cadden, specialises in foot and ankle surgery and most of his patients are still waiting.
"There's still limitations on how many operations you can do, and what cases you can do," he said.
"A lot of people are awaiting surgery to correct deformities like bunions, hammer toe and flat feet. Surgery is still restricted for these things even though people are living with pain or decreased function."
The government will further review elective surgery arrangements by May 11, to determine if other elective surgeries and procedures can recommence and volumes increased.
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