News

New centre of excellence at Westmead Private Hospital

Mar 22, 2018

Westmead Private Hospital has been accredited as a “Centre of Excellence in Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery”, only the 2nd hospital in Australia to be granted this International title, and is ready to meet the rising tsunami of obesity in Australia.

Accreditation is only offered to hospitals where surgeons and staff work together to provide the highest level of care including:

• High caseload
• 24 hour cover and support for patients in and out of hospital
• Support group meetings for patients post-procedure
• ICU and X-Ray/CT availability 24/7
• Prospective audit and monitoring of long-term outcomes.

Earning Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) Excellence in Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery accreditation signifies our ability to consistently deliver the safest, highest-quality care to our patients. The program fosters quality improvement in bariatric surgery. Commitment to this process has focused our team on exceeding clinical benchmarks and guidelines. Most importantly our commitment to excellence will improve the health and well-being of our patients.

“This Centre will be an extremely valuable resource for the people of Western Sydney,” says Bariatric Surgeon Dr Brendan Ryan. “In decades past, people often worried about the risks of undergoing weight loss (bariatric) surgery but patients need to realise that today, with modern bariatric surgery, the risk of a complication is extremely low.

“And this needs to be compared with the much greater risk of NOT having the surgery and continuing on with the complications of obesity including for example crippling arthritis, diabetes, sleep apnoea, hypertension and a life of pain and depression, and often sleeping in chairs just to breathe.”

Dr Ryan and fellow bariatric surgeon Dr Carolyn Jameson were instrumental in working collaborating with the hospital through the rigorous audit process with the international Surgical Review Corporation (SRC), which accredits “best-in-class” centres of surgical excellence around the world.

Dr Ryan said the hospital would deliver a “comprehensive, patient-centric weight loss program to help patients achieve long-term success with weight loss surgery.” He added that more than 80% of patients with diabetes either resolve their diabetes or dramatically reduce medication within a few weeks of undergoing bariatric surgery.

“Commitment to this process has focused our team on exceeding clinical benchmarks and guidelines,” said Mike Flatley – CEO of Westmead Private Hospital. “Earning the SRC’s Metabolic and bariatric Surgery accreditation signifies our ability to consistently deliver the safest, highest-quality care to our patients.”