Lack of funding and shitty mandates, not covid are what is ruining Australias hospital system.

Covid has now been with us for a couple of years and any sense that we might get back to normal quickly seems to of disappeared. Even with a very high vaccination rate Australian hospitals seem to be bowing under the pressure of the pandemic with code brown being called in multiple hospitals throughout Victoria.

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Currently, they are stopping elective surgery and any non emergency treatment.
Elective surgery is basically defined as any non-emergency surgery that can be put off for at least 24 hours.
Many, many different things fall under this category that you would never consider elective.

There are 3 different categories of elective surgery in Australia.

Category 1 - Urgent
Has the potential to deteriorate quickly to the point where it may become an emergency.
Procedures that are clinically indicated within 30 days
Category 2 - Semi urgent
Causes pain, dysfunction or disability.
Unlikely to deteriorate quickly.
Unlikely to become an emergency.
Procedures that are clinically indicated within 90 days
Category 3 - Non-urgent
Causes minimal or no pain, dysfunction or disability.
Unlikely to deteriorate quickly.
Does not have the potential to become an emergency.
This is from a table from the W.A Department of Health.

These times however can be impacted dramatically if there is an influx of emergency cases or, in this situation, if government mandates put a hold to all elective surgery

This essentially means that even a category 1 patient who could deteriorate at any minute, has their surgery put on hold for an indeterminate amount of time. Now it's not every case but how many of these "elective surgery's" that get put off then become emergency surgeries that could of been prevented?

Many of the surgery's listed under elective would barely be considered "elective" at all. Someone who needs leg surgery and cannot walk otherwise would hardly consider it elective, people in immense pain and turning to stronger and stronger medications would hardly consider it elective. People with spinal issues who are confined to wheelchairs would hardly consider it elective.

This opens up a whole other can of worms. People waiting on surgery to relieve pain and discomfort are often being sent to pharmaceuticals instead. Painkillers are a very well known source of addiction, which in turn impacts the medical system even more.

Mandates have forced people out of work.

Government vaccination mandates are forcing people out of work. With the third jab becoming compulsory for many industries it is likely the employment issues will continue. At times like this we need all hands on deck and since its already established that being unvaccinated doesn't stop you spreading the virus I think its high time we got some of these people back to work.

The mandates don't only affect hospital staffing directly but indirectly through supply chains and supportive industries.

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Underfunding.

We pride ourselves on our universal healthcare and while admittedly it is better than getting stuck with an enormous bill for life-saving hospitalisations and medical issues, it still has a ways to go before we can really be proud of it.

Covid has highlighted the situation even more and put massive strain on an overworked and underfunded industry. Some of these workers are putting in massive shifts, cutting holidays and generally getting burnt out which will lead to even more staffing issues.

Many times we have been promised more hospital beds and more facilities but progress is slow and unfulfilled promises rife. Unions and government regulations mean construction is a slow, painful, expensive progress and anything that begins now won't be ready for years. We need to invest and plan for the future, including population growth. Funds need to spent better and politicians held accountable for where said money goes compared to where its promised.

Isolation measures forcing shortages.

Depending on which state you're in will depend on the specific rules you have to follow and these change all the time. Generally though those who test positive, have symptoms or are a close contact are required to isolate. With upwards of 50,000 cases a day in a population of 25 million (give or take) this is an enormous chunk of the workforce being stuck at home. Remember this is something we have a 95% vaccination rate for or something high as shit. We are as protected as we can get but we are allowing Covid to push everything else to the sidelines.

Ambulance wait times are increasing. Doctors are turning patients away from face to face contact which ends up with more people clogging emergency rooms for GP visit issues.
This isn't even mentioning the myriad of mental health issues arising. Stories of 9 year olds attempting suicide because they have been locked at home away from everything for literal years.

If we were to free people back up and truly actually live with this virus many other aspects of society would be flourishing instead of floundering. We need to take a serious look at how we have handled this whole pandemic but more so we need to look at how to prepare our hospital system for disasterous events.
It wasn't that long ago the system was overrun due to thunderstorm asthma. There was a storm and our hospitals couldn't cope. That says volumes about the system and how much improvement could be made.

While I don't necessarily prescribe to Covid being some sort of conspiracy, the way we have handled this as individuals, as a nation and as a species has been kinda woeful. I hope the future is brighter for us but we cannot ignore the lessons this has taught us.