The federal government has announced an easing of elective surgery restrictions – this will allow a graduated return of elective surgery from 50%, then 75% and finally to 100% of normal operating in a staged plan outlined by the Prime Minister.
It is then up to the individual states how quickly to progress through these stages. Given that NSW had the most number of coronavirus cases, it is wise for the NSW government to be more cautious in the relaxing of elective surgery as this means some capacity in all hospitals is reserved in case a ‘second wave’ of Covid-19 occurs. This is also important to carefully protect the precious supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and other resources such as ICU beds needed to manage any outbreak.
The NSW Health department has advised elective surgery will resume up to 75% capacity by the end of June 2020. While the types of surgeries were restricted previously, all restrictions have now been relaxed. This means that cosmetic surgery can safely resume. However it is now up to the individual hospitals to manage their resources, including beds and PPE, and therefore it is at their discretion what they will and will not allow up to 75% of their total capacity.
Dr Aggarwal works at a number of private hospitals. Hunters Hill Private Hospital has advised they will resume cosmetic surgery, while the Sydney Adventist Hospital (being a larger hospital with ICU beds) is likely to be more cautious.
What surgery can we now offer?
We are pleased to announce that we can now resume our full range of surgeries normally offered at Mode Plastic Surgery. We were already offering our full range of skin cancer and reconstructive
cancer services over the past few weeks, and we can now resume offering cosmetic surgery, and other more elective (non-urgent) plastic surgery. However for any cosmetic surgery, or more elective plastic surgery it is up to the discretion of the hospitals where Dr Aggarwal works if they will allow the operation to go ahead. We therefore request patients to take this into account when booking and flexibility may be needed as to your preferred date.
Please also note that in the event of a ‘second wave’ of Covid-19 restrictions may resume, and therefore elective surgery (including cosmetic surgery) may be postponed at short notice. In these unprecedented times, if this was to occur (as we did in March and April) any deposits for surgeries cancelled due to government restrictions will be refunded or if preferred held for a future date of
surgery.
My surgery was cancelled when the government restrictions were announced – what happens now?
We will be in contact with patients soon who had their surgeries cancelled in late March, April and early May. We will prioritise these patients for new dates – depending on the type of procedure and the hospital at which it was going to take place.
What about public hospitals?
If you are a patient waiting for surgery at one of the public hospitals at which Dr Aggarwal works (RPA, POWH, or RHW) it will depend on what the surgery is for. More urgent plastic surgery needs such as skin cancer treatment has been allowed throughout the Covid-19 period. However, since Dr Aggarwal’s regular operating lists have been cancelled surgeries such as this have been booked using ad-hoc operating time depending on the urgency of the surgery needed. Most patients for this type of surgery are on a 90 day wait list at the hospital and will be accommodated on the basis of urgency. Patients needing urgent breast cancer surgery, and immediate reconstruction are also priortised and booked on an ad-hoc basis.
For other less urgent requests, the public hospitals are yet to open the usual elective plastic surgery operating lists. Till that time, we are not able to resume these other types of surgeries.
What about cosmetic injectable treatments?
We are now able to safely resume these – please see our other blog on this topic for more information by clicking here.
Surgical Consultations – Resumption of face to face consulting.
While we have been offering telehealth services throughout this COVID -19 period, we always prefer to see patients face to face as this allows a physical examination, more accurate assessment and
therefore more individualised, considered plans for surgery to made.
There is a new normal in our clinic since the reintroduction of face to face consulting. We are continuing to follow strict protocols to provide social distancing within our office, encouraging use of
hand sanitiser on entry, questionnaire and temperature screening of all patients, regular disinfection of all surfaces, and spacing our appointments. As for face to face consulting, all patients are requested to come alone for appointments. We also recommend that you do not attend if:
- You have been overseas in the last 14 days
- You have had contact with someone who is unwell, has confirmed coronavirus or is confined due to possible coronavirus
- You are unwell in any way, including with a sore throat, fever, shortness of breath, loss of smell or cough.
- We recommend patients drive to our Gordon office, with undercover parking dedicated to our clinic available for patients. In this environment, we recommend against using public transport wherever possible although we are only a short walk from Gordon and Pymble stations if you did need to catch the train.
Are there any services not offered at the moment?
At this stage we are unable to offer medispa services such as Hydrafacial and peels. But we continue to offer skin care advice and our skin care products are available for purchase in the clinic or via phone (and they can be shipped to you, or be ready for collection from our office).
Contact us
We are back to normal clinic hours of 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. You may wish to call us on 1300 80 9000 or email us at info@modeplasticsurgery.com.au to enquire further.
