Last month, Sunnybank Private Hospital's Professor Terence Chua, jointly with vascular surgeon Dr Nigel Pinto and General Surgeon Dr Peter Yuide removed a rare tumour from a patient by combining academic expertise of cancer biology, clinical experience and technical expertise.

This month, Healthscope’s Sydney Southwest Private Hospital (SSWPH) treated a patient with recurrent anterior urethral stricture disease with a novel medical device, the Optilume® Urethral Drug Coated Balloon. The procedure performed by Urologist, Dr. Kayvan Haghighi is expected to have a significant impact for the treatment of anterior urethral stricture disease, offering an alternative, minimally invasive treatment option that traditionally would need frequent selfmanagement, endoscopic retreatment or require open surgery.

Thousands of nurses and midwives on the wards of Healthscope hospitals across the country will be wearing scrubs on wards nationally from 2022. The change comes after our nurses and midwives voted overwhelmingly in favour of scrubs while working on wards, saying it would make them feel more comfortable and safe at work.

Northpark Private Hospital has become the first Victorian Healthscope facility to acquire the high tech Robotic Orthopaedic Surgical Assistant (ROSA). By collecting individual patient data before and during surgery ROSA helps surgeons tailor each patient’s knee replacement to their own individual anatomical requirements.

Nepean Private Hospital will offer improved facilities for the people of Greater Penrith and the Blue Mountains, thanks to a multi-million dollar expansion including new operating theatres and consulting suites housed within a brand new building. Having spent 20 years serving the local community, the hospital will invest over $30 million to develop a new three-story facility attached to the existing main building via multiple floors.

Sadly lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer in Australia, but if found at an earlier stage, there is more chance of a better outcome. Healthscope Respiratory Physician Dr Michael Prichard has provided us with a short piece on risk factors.

This month Skin Cancer Surgeon Mr Andrew Simm from Ringwood Private has provided us with an informative overview of skin cancer and its three main types.

National Capital Private Hospital has become the first Australian hospital to receive Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) accreditations as a Centre of Excellence in Joint Replacement and Robotic Joint Replacement. Centre of Excellence Accreditation is the SRC’s highest awarded recognition for quality of care and patient safety.

In a health industry first, patients of Western Australian GP group Jupiter Health and Medical Services will have direct, on-site access to leading Mount Hospital specialists. Under the new agreement between the two healthcare providers, Mount Hospital specialists and surgeons covering orthopedics, cardiology, bariatrics and vascular have begun consulting exclusively at five Jupiter Health GP locations - Harvest Lakes, Madeley, Alkimos, Singleton and Perth CBD.

The Victoria Clinic is in the process of a $50 million upgrade that will vastly expand the services it offers, as the Healthscope-operated mental health facility also marks two decades of serving its local community.