Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital Bruce have postponed some elective procedures as health services face staff shortages due to COVID-19, other illnesses, and leave, ACT Health has announced.

“The ACT health system is experiencing extremely high demand this week, as we care for record numbers of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients in our public hospitals,” a spokesperson said.

“This is having a significant impact on our capacity at Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, so we’d like to remind Canberrans to keep our emergency departments for emergencies.”

Generally, the less urgent surgeries had been delayed, said Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health.

“It will also depend on who’s available to run which lists, and how many theatres we can open at any particular point in time.”

She understood this was a difficult decision that would disappoint many.

“Even though it’s called elective surgery, this surgery is life-changing for many people. Many people will be waiting for their elective surgery with pain or mobility challenges, with less capacity to participate in work or their everyday lives and social activities. This is really challenging, and we absolutely understand that.

“If we didn’t have to take this measure, we wouldn’t be doing it. But unfortunately, we need to protect our workforce, and ensure that we can deliver those emergency surgeries and those critical category one elective surgeries that people need to save life and limb.”

The minister said this problem was not unique to the ACT.

“We’re seeing these kinds of issues occurring across the country. We don’t have a specific timeframe on which elective surgery is going to be delayed… We’re playing it by ear in terms of how we’re managing the demand across our system from day to day and week to week.”

Hospital staff were away from work every day for COVID-19-related reasons, or from other respiratory illnesses circulating; 75 and 80 patients presented to hospital every day with COVID-19; and a small number of people were being treated for coronavirus in the Intensive Care Unit.

Presentations to emergency departments had been above average every day for the last year, while walk-in centres and primary care were very busy.

Managing the risk of COVID-19 in hospitals had an ongoing impact, Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“The red zones that we have to create for people with respiratory conditions coming into the hospital, the testing regime, and the additional personal protective equipment our hospital staff have to wear, all increase the stress on staff, the anxiety people feel.

“Because staff have worked so incredibly hard over the last couple of years, people are really tired. They’re not able to do the level of overtime or the additional shifts that maybe they could have done 12 or 18 months ago, when it was all hands on deck to respond to COVID-19, and to then catch up on our initial pause in elective surgery in 2020.”

Ms Stephen-Smith and ACT Health urged the public to see their GP, visit a Walk-in Centre or call CALMS, the National Home Doctor Service, or HealthDirect for non-urgent health care.

Walk-in Centre wait times are available on the CHS website. Visit walkincentre.act.gov.au to see the current wait times.