Year-in-Review-2021-22 - Flipbook - Page 75
Gastroenterology
and Liver
This Stream provides medical and nursing services
at Canterbury, Concord and RPA Hospitals and in
the community, to patients with acute and chronic
conditions of the gastro-intestinal tract.
These conditions include liver disease, colorectal
and peritoneal cancers, inflammatory bowel disease,
minor ano-rectal disease, faecal continence and
large bowel dysfunction. The Stream undertakes
colorectal, upper gastro-intestinal and hepatobiliary
surgery. RPA is the only site in NSW that performs
adult liver transplants. Specialised endoscopy
units perform more than 12,000 procedures a
year, including gastroscopies, colonoscopies,
sigmoidoscopies and oesophageal dilatation,
endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography
(ERCP) and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM).
Medical Imaging
Throughout the ongoing pandemic, the Medical
Imaging Stream (MIS) continued to provide essential
diagnostic imaging studies and therapeutic
procedures for the clinical services throughout the
District’s Hospitals. Being able to continue such
essential patient care was both challenging and
rewarding. The imaging technology we use in the
MIS varies in complexity from simple plain digital
x-rays to MR and the country’s only total body
PET-CT scanner at RPA. There has been continuing
investment in the MIS and a PET-CT scanner was
installed at Concord Hospital in June in preparation
for the service commencing in the third quarter
of 2022 as part of the Concord Redevelopment;
an upgrade to the existing PACS was completed
in November 2021. The planning for the RPA
Redevelopment, where medical imaging will play
an important role, has continued.
Year in Review 2021–22
Cardiovascular
Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the
Cardiovascular Stream maintained high quality
patient care and excellence in research. Over the
year, RPA Cardiothoracic Surgery and Vascular
Surgery continued to perform complex procedures
both in the hospital and through collaborative care
agreements, a reflection of high level co-ordination
and clinical engagement to deliver high quality
patient outcomes. The RPA Cardiology department
further developed its specialist services, with an
expansion of the outreach Adult Congenital Heart
Disease program and launch of an outpatients
Sports Cardiology clinic, as well as other services
that have facilitated research opportunities. At
Concord, the Cardiology department had extensive
capital works and equipment upgrades in the
Cardiology Catheter Lab, and commenced planning
on a model of care for onsite emergency mechanical
support, expected to be launched in 2023. The
Vascular Surgery department is committed
to education and research, receiving national
and international recognition of their research
innovation in perioperative care of older patients,
and introducing new technology for minimally
invasive surgery for peripheral artery disease such
as atherectomy. The unit has a strong commitment
to surgical training and education, recognised by
the “2022 educator of merit” award for supervision
from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
At the Canterbury Hospital, the Cardiology service
continues to grow with an upgrade to five days a
week with the support of cardiologists, echo and
ECG technicians. Across the clinical stream, the
Cardiac Rehabilitation and Chronic Care Service
adapted the traditional face to face model of care
to a virtual service, enabling patient care to be
delivered in various settings.
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