Postoperative complications are projected to increase substantially each year over the next 30 years. This is a result of the known increased risk of complications with increasing age; and the ageing of Australia’s population.

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Left unaddressed, this issue means life-improving and life-saving surgery will be less safe, or unaffordable, or both.

 

Strategies to address this issue will need to be multiple, and include advances in therapeutic goods with proven benefit, access to staff trained to prevent and manage complications, evidence-based best practice guidelines, improvement in health systems and models to deliver best care, and funding approaches which support best outcomes.

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This inevitably involves a range of stakeholders in healthcare, including private and public healthcare funders; professional colleges, tertiary education institutions and other training bodies; private and public hospitals, primary care, regulators, and consumers.

 

The summit on 6th of March 2020 will examine the future challenges in some detail, and explore avenues for Australia to develop strategies to address this emerging problem.

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Ludbrook and Walsh Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (In Press)