Orthopaedic Surgeon
RESILIENCE
What Do You Do as a Surgeon When Someone Takes All Your Theatre Time Away? stories about orthopaedics which we use as educational content on our webpage. She has also boosted our social media presence and we are posting twice weekly. And now, that we have been allowed to resume 75% of our normal activity, we need everyone happy at the office in order to work through the backlog. I’d like to finish with a Benjamin Franklin quote that sums it up nicely: “Change is the only constant in life. Ones ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life!”
It was Wednesday, 18th March 2020, when Australia’s prime minister announced, that all elective surgery has to be suspended from 20th March 2020. And here I was, sitting in the busy physiotherapy practice of my good friend Darryl in Beenleigh, where I consult every other Wednesday. Not that I didn’t expect this announcement to happen amidst the evolving Covid-19 crisis but it still hit me: my line of work is 80% elective surgery and we had to cancel 4 weeks of booked surgeries. I felt terribly sorry for all these patients who were awaiting a procedure and had made arrangements. And then it hit me again: what am I going to do? I understand panic doesn’t help in the best of times but I felt a bit uneasy. Thankfully my practice manager has a wonderfully positive attitude. Her words: “Don’t worry - we will be fine!” And right she was! I can say this now as I’m writing this at the end of May and elective surgery is about to resume. Firstly, she called all booked patients and informed them of the situation. Everyone was very understanding and we offered to see them, in case they needed an interim solution to get comfortable such as prescriptions or injections. Secondly, we implemented Telehealth. Commonwealth and Medicare were suddenly able to implement changes quickly and supported the widespread installation of systems. In a state as vast as Queensland with a huge part of its population living remotely, Telehealth had always been on the agenda but never really kicked off. In my practice we implemented all measures of social distancing, purchased hand sanitiser from the Brisbane Distillery and only came to
www.germany.org.au
the rooms on regular clinic days. The rest of the week, phones were diverted and home office was practiced. Distancing in the practice will have to stay and I believe we will continue to have some days, where the phone will be diverted to home office. The occasional emergency case had to be categorised as defined by subspecialty societies. This then had to be presented to the representative of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) and two peers had to support the case in order for the MAC chair to sign off on this. To ask for ‘permission’ to perform surgery in a consultant system is a huge change in paradigm. Certainly for Australian surgeons who have never experienced a more autocratic medical system as it is present in Germany. I believe overall the majority of surgeons adhered to those rules but there is always someone who tries to push boundaries. The hospital executive in these cases pointed out that Medicare would audit urgent cases and disobedience would be reported to AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency). In order to continue some professional education webinars were advertised by companies and societies. I have been a presenter on two occasions and whilst I was missing the direct interaction with the audience, I found the feedback rewarding. As a participant it allows everyone to pick and choose certain topics and also to enjoy the education in your home with a glass of red or similar. In my practice I employ a full time practice manager and a parttime casual receptionist. Obviously, our workload had been reduced and I could have sent the part-timer home to save on wages. However, we decided to keep her regular hours and look for something else to do. She has worked her way into video editing software and makes me record
Written by Dr Med Joerg U. Rhau, Orthopaedic Surgeon
ABOUT DR MED JOERG U. RHAU (ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON)
Dr Rhau completed medical school and orthopaedic training in his native Germany before heading for Melbourne for 12 months of specialist fellowship training. He was then offered a consultant position with Queensland Health and also obtained Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). He now works full time in private practice and has a special interest in conditions of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand. Greenslopes Shoulder & Limb Clinic Suite 4, 631 Logan Road Greenslopes, QLD 4120 Phone 07/ 3394 4370 Fax 07/ 3847 4107 Email: joerg@drrhau.com.au www.drRhau.com.au
13
