New Canberra Hospital operating theatres will help improve elective surgery waiting times, the health minister says.
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The new critical services building is expected to open in the third quarter of 2024, health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
There will be 22 theatres, 17 of which can be used for surgery immediately.
The other five will be available in case they are needed as Canberra's population grows.
There are 15 operating theatres in the current hospital.
The new theatres will open gradually.
"We will opening those theaters in a staged way according to demand across our hospital system," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
The minister said having more operating theatres available will stop elective surgeries being rescheduled due to emergencies.
"When we have a busy day of emergency surgery we won't be having to reschedule elective surgery because we'll have the space and the capacity for those teams who are ready to go," she said.
"Sometimes that's where we get a bit space-constrained at the moment."
Eventually most of the old operating theatres will be repurposed.
Canberra Health Services is still deciding how they will be used.
Two will remain for obstetric and gynecology patients because of their proximity to the women and children's ward.
Improvements in the new theatres include medical imaging suites in the operating complex and hybrid theatres, Clinical Director of Anaesthetics, Lance Lasersohn, said.
"The neurosurgical suite is also quite unique in Canberra [because it allows] medical imaging of vessels at the same time [as operating]," Dr Lasersohn said.
Dr Lasersohn was particularly excited about having medical imaging facilities within and near the new theatres.
He said this would help doctors in many disciplines while they operated on patients.
"The surgeon can convert what they see real time into an operation as they need to, whereas now that's not so easy [because] we have to move the patient," Dr Lasersohn said.
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The government is also actively recruiting medical professions from New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"There are a lot of people in those countries who are really interested in the opportunity of working in Australia," she said.
The federal government was helping fast-tracked visas from recruits, the minister said.
Lanie Tindale
I am City reporter at The Canberra Times. I previously covered health for the masthead, and was a trainee before that. I have written on courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. lanie.tindale@canberratimes.com.au.
I am City reporter at The Canberra Times. I previously covered health for the masthead, and was a trainee before that. I have written on courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. lanie.tindale@canberratimes.com.au.
