There is an overall shortage of many specialities resulting in backlog of surgeries – Dr Fong

There is an overall shortage of many specialities, surgery is one of them, and this is due to two operating theatres not working, and a shortage of nurses.

This has been stated by Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong when questioned on the backlog of surgeries.

Dr Fong also says there is a major need for them to renovate the CWM Hospital theatre operation capability.

He adds that the Lautoka and Labasa Hospitals have been able to cater for their case loads very well, and most of the backlogs are at CWM.

The Permanent Secretary adds it is not unexpected as CWM caters for more than 50 percent of Fiji’s population.

He also says they have come up with a scoping to try and get the CWM Hospital operation theatre sorted out, and from the latest estimates it will cost around $400,000.

Dr Fong further says they will have to go through a planned phase as they cannot just stop all operations and start fixing them up.

He says they are going through a number of planned phases where it will probably take a whole year fixing it up, so they can have better access to operation spaces.

Dr Fong explains that he is facing a shortage of nurses and only 6 out of 8 theatres are operational at the CWM Hospital.

He also says they have come up with a scoping to try and get the CWM Hospital operation theatre sorted out, and from the latest estimates it will cost around $400,000.

Dr Fong further says they will have to go through a planned phase as they cannot just stop all operations and start fixing it up.

He says they are going through a number of planned phases where it will probably take a whole year fixing it up, so they can have better access to operation spaces.

Dr Fong explains that he is facing a shortage of nurses and only 6 out of 8 theatres operational at the CWM Hospital.

He says they have been facilitating more overtime and getting the teams to work longer hours.

The Permanent Secretary also says it is not a sustainable plan but at least for the short term it allows them to cater for the case load.