Best in world for regional bariatric return

06/03/24

Patients in north-west Victoria no longer need to travel to Adelaide for weight-loss treatment following the return of bariatric care at Mildura Health Private Hospital. 

After pausing the service for two years, the Sunraysia Hospital has upgraded its equipment to provide faster procedures and make them even safer for patients.

It also has a new specialist after Dr Margaret Dunkley, a skilled general surgeon with over 15 years’ experience, spent the past 18 months training in bariatric surgery.

Dr Dunkley joined the Adelaide-based Australian Metabolic and Obesity Surgery (AMOS) clinic that delivers the service in various locations including Mildura.

“By having the surgery in Mildura with a local surgeon, I’m always here for any post-operation complications, I’ll look after these patients if they present six months later and for the rest of their lives for any requirements associated with their bariatric surgery,” she said.

“It also means patients don’t have to leave their family or home to travel to Adelaide before and after surgery.”

Dr Dunkley recently performed two bariatric surgeries alongside AMOS founder Justin Bessell, in one of Mildura Health Private Hospital’s new theatres using the state-of-the-art Olympus Towers technology.

“This equipment is the best in the world, you can’t get better,” Dr Dunkley said. 

“It increases our vision and therefore the safety and speed of the operation.”

Though the local waiting list was steadily growing, Dr Bessell said the average patient would think about weight-loss procedures for seven years and most took two years to commit to it.

Patients must consult with a psychologist, dietician, exercise physiologist and bariatrician prior to surgery.

“It’s the deterioration in their quality of life that often is the straw that breaks the camel’s back – they have sore hips, knees, feet, and can’t be as active as they want to be,” Dr Bessell said.

Dr Dunkley said people who suffered from weight problems usually did so for many years – some for as long as they could remember.

After surgery, and for the rest of their lives, patients must adopt major lifestyle changes to avoid regaining the weight, with the help and support of the AMOS team.

“Many of our patients are middle-aged women who want to be healthier for their children and grandchildren and have realised that being overweight increases their risk of disease,” Dr Dunkley said.

“They come in wanting to reduce that risk, to be healthier and live longer.”