ZIGGY Dean from Beldon is the first patient to have surgery today in the state-of-the-art operating complex at Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH), ahead of the opening of the emergency department next month.
The eight-year-old had his adenoids removed by ear, nose and throat surgeon Paul Bumbak who will perform three procedures in the new surgical theatre today.
Dr Bumbak said that after years of planning operating theatre staff had been looking forward to welcoming the hospital’s first surgical patients.
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READ NOW“Every detail of the operating theatre complex has been developed with our patients and their families in mind so it is very exciting to deliver care in our new space,” he said.
“It is an honour to care for the first of thousands of patients who will come through these operating theatres in the years to come.”
Selected same-day elective surgeries will be done at PCH over the next two weeks to ensure that technologies and workflows were in place ahead of the opening of the ED on Sunday, June 10.
Child and Adolescent Health Service chief executive Robyn Lawrence said the number and types of surgical procedures would increase in coming weeks.
“PCH is a brand new environment so we are building up the volume and complexity of surgical cases, with patient safety as our highest priority,” she said.
“The new theatre complex contains some of the world’s leading technology and some of the processes for working are different so we are gradually and methodically building up our capacity.”
PCH has the capacity for 12 operating theatres – a 50 per cent increase from PMH.
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