It all started with a headache.
Melbourne mother Natalie Wieland woke up on a Sunday morning in July with a pain in her head.
Over the next seven months, she would endure a physically and emotionally exhausting ordeal that would see her bounce between doctors, specialists, neurologists and even acupuncturists to attempt to find the cause of the pain.
"Nose sprays, steroids, antibiotics, all kinds of things, and nothing worked. It was just a searing, constant pain behind my eyebrow," she said.
Ms Wieland was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis that had caused the bones in her face to become infected, and finally told in mid-October that surgery was required.
But with long surgery wait lists during the pandemic, she was forced to endure excruciating pain while waiting for treatment.
In the month leading up to the surgery, Natalie started having shooting pains that would force her to pull over in agony while driving.
She eventually had to give up driving for fear of crashing.
Despite being in extreme pain and at risk of deteriorating further, her surgery was classified as Category 2A and was indefinitely postponed by the Victorian government amid a surge in COVID hospitalisations.
After the pain landed her in the emergency room in January, Ms Wieland wrote to her local MP Tim Read in an effort to ask for help.
"I think it's terrible that I had to do that, and I think the hospital staff felt that way too. They were so apologetic in saying they really wanted to help me but they couldn't, their hands were tied," she said.
While Ms Wieland is now on the road to recovery after finally getting surgery in February, tens of thousands of Victorians are still suffering on surgery waitlists across the state.
Government promises to 'catch-up' with bloated surgery waitlist
The state government has announced a $1.5 billion "COVID Catch-Up" package in an effort to deal with the surgery backlog that has rapidly expanded during the pandemic.
Data compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows 7.6 per cent of patients waited longer than a year to be admitted for surgery in 2020-21 — nearly triple the 2.8 per cent the year before.
"This is not just about getting back to pre-pandemic levels, this is about doing better, doing more," Acting Premier James Merlino said.
Under the plan, the Frankston Private Hospital will be transformed into a public surgery centre.
Once fully operational in 2023, it will have the capacity to deliver up to 9,000 public surgeries per year.
Meanwhile, $475 million will be invested in the public system to support more same-day surgeries, increase twilight and after-hours work and theatre improvements.
The government will also establish eight rapid access hubs across metropolitan public hospitals.
"These are fit for purpose theatres delivering day surgery — surgery that can be done quickly and separately from emergency departments and acute care," Mr Merlino said.
The investment package will also dedicate more than $80 million to support 400 nurses and health workers to undertake post-graduate studies.
And there is money for the private system.
"Continuing on this theme of partnership with the private sector— $548 million to deliver more public patients in our private system," Mr Merlino said.
Mr Merlino took aim at the federal government over health funding and said they rejected a plea for further funding.
"This is clearly, unambiguously an issue we are dealing with that is directly impacted by COVID and yet we saw in the budget just days ago that COVID support is going from $1.5 billion for Victoria to zero," Mr Merlino said.
The state government claims that from next year the sector will be running at 125 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity, delivering 40,000 additional public surgeries each year.
Deputy Liberal Party leader David Southwick said the announcement was a case of "groundhog day" and pointed towards the Andrews government's previous promises for health funding.
"Two years ago, the government said they were going to provide 1.3 billion worth of funding, and it just never eventuated," Mr Southwick said.
"Daniel Andrews needs to take full responsibility for what he has created, the crisis that he has created."
Medical community welcomes announcement
The medical community have thrown their support behind the COVID Catch-Up initiative, but have shared reservations about potential staffing shortages.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victorian Branch secretary, Lisa Fitzpatrick, said the initiative was long overdue.
"This plan recognises that there is systemic work that has to be done to change the way that we can treat people in a timely manner than what we have been doing over decades."
Vice president of the Australian Medical Association, Chris Moy, said a long term plan was needed to deal with what he called a "cross-country problem" of delayed procedures.
"Many, many people are either in danger because of delayed surgery… but also many people are out there suffering quietly, we just don't see it in the media that much," Dr Moy said.
However, Dr Moy warned the ambitious targets for increased surgeries would require long term planning around staffing and training.
"While it's a great idea to be trying to do this, there is going to be a workforce problem," he said.
He called for the federal government to step in and contribute towards a 50-50 split in funding.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons also voiced their support, but said increasing the workload of staff would take time.
"Implementation won't be straightforward as we need enough lead time to train the required staff and we've also got to have the staff available," a college spokesperson said.
"We've also got to remember that we have an exhausted workforce and must keep their welfare in mind."
