Twins Audrey and Dianne on the morning of their grommet surgery during the recent school holidays at The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne. Image: The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital’s School Holiday Surgical Blitz Program is making it easier for families and paediatric patients to access surgical care....
No actionable change for individual audiologists; this is a hospital access initiative, but it highlights the value of advocating for waitlist-reduction programs when referring paediatric patients for surgical review.
Paediatric surgical waitlists are a recognised bottleneck in hearing healthcare, and creative scheduling models like this could inform service-delivery improvements across Australian and other public health systems.
- 01Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital ran a School Holiday Surgical Blitz Program to increase paediatric surgical throughput.
- 02The program targeted children waiting for ear procedures including grommet (ventilation tube) insertion.
- 03Scheduling surgery during school holidays minimises disruption to children's education.
- 04Twin girls featured as a human-interest example of the program's benefit.
- 05The initiative addresses access inequity by clearing backlogs in the public health system.
The School Holiday Surgical Blitz Program improved surgical access for children.
press releaseunclear