Govt outsources surgeries to ease CWM backlog

Surgical waiting times at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital have decreased after the Government began outsourcing elective and non-emergency procedures to private medical facilities.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu revealed this in Parliament yesterday.

He said the move followed delays caused by a backlog of surgical cases linked to the reduced availability of operating theatres at CWM Hospital, where four of the hospital’s eight theatres are currently undergoing renovations by the Public Works Department.

“We have put in a programme of outsourcing cases to private facilities, and that has really brought down the backlog of cases — especially cases which are not emergency in nature, and elective,” Dr Lalabalavu said.

He said the outsourcing programme had eased pressure across several surgical areas, including orthopaedics, while the hospital’s four operational theatres continued to prioritise emergency procedures.

Dr Lalabalavu said renovation works on the theatres were now 90 per cent complete, with final touch-ups and medical gas piping works still outstanding.

He also updated Parliament on a $14.5 million priority infrastructure plan for CWM Hospital, funded through support from the Australian Government via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

The works include urgent roofing repairs, upgrades to acute wards, installation of a new 12,000-litre water tank and sewer remediation works at the maternity building.

Dr Lalabalavu said the infrastructure plan was intended to keep the hospital fully operational for the next seven to 10 years while a long-term master plan for a new hospital facility was developed.

Opposition MP Virendra Lal, who raised the question in Parliament, asked whether infrastructure issues had contributed to delays in surgeries.

The Minister confirmed this had occurred but said the situation was now being managed.