23/03/2020
Dear Patients and Friends,
I write to you as we enter a war the likes of which we have never seen. This is without a doubt, our generation’s Great War. It is a war in which the enemy is invisible and insidious and preys on the ill and the elderly.
At this difficult time, we are all forced to make difficult choices. I personally am responsible for the overall welfare of my patients, not just their surgical outcome. I am also responsible for my team, both in the clinical and research settings.
As such, I have decided, even though it is not yet mandated by the health department, to suspend non-urgent medical activity for at least two months. In time, the recommendations will likely catch up and it may be that this is extended by a greater length of time.
Critically, during this period we will be seeing new and current patients via Telehealth review. Please be patient with staff while we endeavour to facilitate this new service.
Why have I reached this decision?
1. Your welfare: undergoing surgery and a long anaesthetic can challenge the immune system and the recovery period can leave you vulnerable to infection with COVID-19.
2. When hospitals are full of community-spread COVID-19, being in hospital for longer than needed will be a risk for contracting the illness.
3. If an unforeseeable issue arises and the situation becomes even more dire for our community, I do not want my patients to be needing ongoing visits to doctors and dressing etc.
4. Many of my patients are from interstate and overseas and there are current travel restrictions and quarantine measures in place.
5. In Italy, between 8-12% of those infected are health care workers, exposure to long operations in asymptomatic patients has been associated with high infection rates, including in a rhinoplasty surgery in which all staff involved became critically ill or died.
What will I be doing instead?
1. It is likely, that all doctors will be seconded or reassigned to work in the care of the COVID-infected patient cohort. We all stand ready for this.
2. In addition, we will be operating as normal for high risk skin cancer cases, melanoma, other cancer reconstruction and trauma as this service cannot be delayed by months. My role in this capacity in public hospitals will also continue.
3. I am collecting a national data base for the Federal Health Department of Australian scientists who are able to conduct the PCR test to detect COVID-19. This list will constitute a workforce to enable greater testing capacity when the time comes and I am in liaison and dialogue with Australia’s Medical Research Institutions to collect this list.
4. Our Lipoedema research and other research must continue at OBI. The team at OBI, lead by Tara, are continuing to work on Lipoedema as there are numerous animal and other experiments underway, that cannot be postponed. Especially at a time like this, medical research must continue as a critical industry for as long as possible, and I have a duty to provide the safest and most compliant work environment possible for the team.
I apologies once again, for any inconvenience or disappointment caused by the decision to suspend (for the time being) any surgery that is not immediately life threatening in the next few months. It is not because I do not value or prioritise you at this time, but it is more for the safety of yourselves and the surgical team, and for the good of the community to free up resources for the war effort that is upon us.
My best wishes to you and your loved ones. I hope that the disease passes you and that you think that I was unnecessarily paranoid. I fear that this will not be the case.
Warm regards
Ramin
