SCUH losing surgery stripes
Australia's newest hospital will be stripped of orthopaedic surgeon training accreditation from next year.
The $1.8 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital opened earlier this year, but will not have any trainee orthopaedic surgeons rotating through it, as the hospital failed to meet accreditation criteria from the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA).
“It's reasonably rare for us to withdraw accreditation, and it's only done where we have significant concerns about the quality of the training,” said AOA chairman of education and training, Omar Khorshid.
“We don't apologise for having reasonably strict criteria because we want to provide a high-quality workforce for the future. It's a wake-up call … it's a message.”
The major issue is that trainees at the Sunshine Coast facility would not have enough time in surgery or contact with orthopaedic patients, to meet the official requirements.
“The one that was of most concern was around access to actual surgery, to adequate numbers on theatre lists, and to beds to put patients in, to make sure there's enough volume of surgery happening to achieve the surgery outcomes that we require,” Dr Khorshid said.
Inspectors also found that trainees did not have access to study rooms.
“Access to cases, beds and theatres is generally not easy to fix in a matter of a very short period, so I don't think it's likely that this hospital will be accredited for 2018,” he said.
The Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service disagrees with the AOA's decision.
It has issued a statement saying the hospital intends to work with the AOA to address the issues, and correct any potential misunderstandings that may have led to the decision.
“I can reassure the community that there will be absolutely no impact on our ability to provide orthopaedic surgery or any other service at SCUH,” the hospital’s acting chief executive Scott Lisle said.