Dr Sam Martin | Orthopaedist

Dr Sam Martin

Phone: 0266750737

Address: The Orthopaedic Specialist Centre 2460 1/12 King St. Grafton, New South Wales, Australia

Website: http://Drsammartin.com/

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• Medical service
• Orthopaedist

25.01.2022 I undertook my first telehealth consultations yesterday. It is certainly different to a face to face consultation, but it worked. It’s a great way of minimizing the risk to patients who could otherwise suffer from coronavirus. Earlier in the week we had a meeting of the medical staff on Monday and another with executive of the northern Nsw LHD on Wednesday. This is something to take seriously.... Don’t panic. Don’t hoard. Do take it seriously. The hospitals and local health districts are taking it very seriously. The staff at the hospital are working hard to prepare for a situation where there are very large numbers of cases in about 3-4 weeks. Everyone hopes that doesn’t happen. At present the number of cases doubles every three days and the numbers get big quickly. If it keeps doubling every 3 or 4 days there will be more than 20 000 cases by Easter in Australia. It is true that many for many people (especially the young) this is a mild illness. Indications from overseas are that for some, especially those who are a bit older or with other health issues it isn’t mild at all. Many may need ICU. If a whole lot of people get unwell at once that need could be a struggle to meet. Take care. Reconsider any domestic travel. For example It isn’t reasonable or sensible to go Sydney to play sport this weekend. Reconsider the need for and take care in social gatherings. Practice careful hand hygiene and social distancing. Stay home if you are sick Isolate if you have been overseas- even if you got back before Sunday. Call the info line 131 450 or call (don’t go) to Your GP if you think you may have coronavirus. My parents are in the at risk age group and live in our community. Please take this seriously and keep all the vulnerable people in our community safe.

24.01.2022 We had a meeting at the hospital on Wednesday where I gave an update about the day surgery program Dr Genon and I are involved in. So far there have been 7 day surgery total knee replacement patients. Satisfaction levels are very high and pain levels have been consistently and strikingly low. Some preliminary results suggest that the day surgery patients might have less pain than if they were in hospital. That is both interesting and encouraging. Thanks very much to everyone... involved for contributing to this success. I presented these results at a national webinar run by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association on Thursday with other panelist Prof Kehlet (an international expert from Denmark) and Dr Andrew Ellis (immediate past president of the Australian Orthopaedic Association) and Dr Allan Tyson and Amanda Tutty from grafton base hospital. Grafton Base Hospital was well represented! The presentation was well received with interesting questions. Day surgery total joint replacement really does seem here to stay. It isn’t for everyone, but for appropriate candidates, how well it works almost is something you have to see to believe. We are proposing to continue the pilot program for a few more months and open up the selection criteria very slightly based on what we have learned so far. I imagine in the future, what we think of as an appropriate candidate might be quite a reasonable proportion of joint replacement patients. I hope everyone getting a break has a safe and restful one. It’s been a very difficult year for many people and some especially so. In health care the lead up to the end of the year has been very busy- hopefully things slow down a bit for those working over the holiday period. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It will be exciting to see what we can achieve with day surgery and enhanced recoveries in 2021. All surgery has risks, results vary, I recommend seeking a second opinion before considering surgery

20.01.2022 I installed the COVIDSafe app yesterday. This is a potentially powerful step to save lives. If enough people use it, it should also allow a faster return to normality, with all the economic and other benefits associated with that.

17.01.2022 Coronavirus advice: Doctors are talking about flattening the curve. That means keeping the rate of new cases of unwell people low enough that it does not overwhelm the health system to the point that it fails. A broken health system combined with many very sick people is something dreadful everyone wants to avoid. To minimize the rate of infection:... Isolate- don’t come you your appointment and seek appropriate advice and treatment if unwell. Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands when out and about. Please sanitize your hands on arrival and departure from our clinic or the hospital (and in between were appropriate.) Practice social distancing. Consider your need to attend the clinic. If you have only minor trouble from your orthopaedic issue and just want to get it checked out, you probably don’t need to come and see us at the moment. (People who have only minor trouble very very rarely need anything done.) A telephone appointment is also an option now for some patients in certain situations. Feel free to ask if that is suitable for you. Where possible we will call patients to talk through that option. The less people out and about the better. Stay safe and look after yourselves. We will keep you up to date as the situation changes at the Specialist Orthopaedic Centre and surrounding hospitals.

12.01.2022 I am excited to have been invited to be a panelist for a webinar tonight hosted by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association. It is titled Day 0 discharge after knee and hip replacement: Is it worth it? I will give an update about the pilot program that Dr Michel Genon and I are participating in at Grafton Base Hospital. This has been proceeding well with very positive feedback from all involved. Thanks very much to everyone that has contributed to its success so ...far. I would say yes, it’s worth It! Our experience and that from other centres is that day stay joint replacement is associated with high patient satisfaction and is safe. There are also clear benefits for the hospital. Interestingly there also seem to benefits for our non day stay patients. It’s fair to say that day surgery joint replacement isn’t for everyone, and we have noticed that in general all of our patients are experiencing more rapid recoveries since we initiated the day stay program. Grafton Base Hospital is well represented in the webinar with Amanda Tutty and Dr Allan Tyson also taking part as panelists. Both Allan and Amanda have been closely involved in the day stay program. Amanda will present the NSW health video describing the experience of our first two patients. https://www.facebook.com//in-and-out-in-/2689935997926942/ The link to the webinar is below https://ahha.asn.au//webinar-day-0-discharge-after-knee-an All surgery has risks and results vary. I recommend seeking a second opinion before considering invasive procedures.

10.01.2022 Some recent great further coverage of the day surgery joint replacement program at Grafton Base Hospital. Thanks very much to everyone involved. The feedback from patients in the program so far has been very encouraging. https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1360138105781690370?s=20

07.01.2022 I saw a post where someone mentioned concern about viral illness transmission at shopping centers. I’ve just been to Woolworths at woopi and the staff are doing a great job of wiping down surfaces. Thanks Woolies staff! We can all do our bit too by taking hand santiser along on a shopping trip. Sanitize before you go in and touch a trolley. Do it whenever it makes sense while you are there- for example if you have touched a frequently touched surface and do it when you walk o...ut the door. If you have run out or don’t have any hand sanitizer make some. You need at least 2/3 pure alcohol. Metho will do. Fuel for an ethanol heater is perfect. Any pure cleaning alcohol would be great. The last 1/3 can be a moisturizer or aloe vera gel. Make it stronger if you want (more alcohol less moisturizer). It can’t be weaker. 3:4 to 4:5 mix would be fine. Put it in any pump pack- an empty hand wash pump pack is perfect. I would love to see people walking around sanitizing their hands. It will probably do more good than masks, especially if everyone does it.

05.01.2022 There have been some exciting developments at the Grafton Base Hospital lately. Dr Michel Genon and I have recently commenced a pilot program of day stay total hip and knee replacement surgery. The first two (star!) patients in this program had total knee replacements 2 weeks ago. They came along for a check up 10 days post op and are doing really well.... The hard work of lots of people has contributed to this being possible in Grafton. In particular Amanda Tutty, Allan Tyson, surgical ward staff including Craig and Ian and all the theatre unit within both the operating theatre and day surgery deserve a big thanks! This won’t be for everyone. For some people though, there is nothing like a recovery in the comfort of home which is now a possibility! https://www.prime7.com.au/news/29283-hospital-first

04.01.2022 We had a meeting at the hospital last night. So far coronavirus is playing out in Australia exactly as expected based on experience from overseas. We are on track for 20 000 cases by 9th of April. We all hope we are wrong about that. If 10% need of those need ICU for 2 weeks, then that will fill every ICU bed in Australia. In only 3 weeks time. Also remember those beds aren’t empty, people already turn up to hospital every day that need ICU.... https://mobile.abc.net.au//coronavirus-data-reve/12060704 Almost a fifth of all 368 coronavirus cases were recorded on Monday That’s the point of exponential growth. It’s growing about 20% per day which is a doubling time of 3-4 days. That is exactly the same as the rate in Europe. The author could have written the almost a fifth comment every day so far and will be able to do so every coming day until lockdown. That is the only that really seems to work. On Thursday the author will be able to write: Almost a fifth of all 600 cases were recorded yesterday On Monday next week: Almost a fifth of all 1200 cases were recorded yesterday On Thursday next week: Almost a fifth of all 2400 cases were recorded yesterday On Thursday the 2/4/2020: Almost a fifth of all 10 000 cases were recorded yesterday On Thursday the 9/4/2020: Almost a fifth of all 20 000 cases were recorded yesterday Coronavirus has behaved like this in every country it’s spread to until lockdown. We don’t need panic but we do need truth and facts. Lockdown sooner or lockdown later? It is unavoidable. The will be half as much harm for every 3 days earlier the decision is made. Please limit travel and stay home if you can. For example it is no longer reasonable to travel for a hockey carnival. It is no longer sensible to go to a bar or to bingo. Stay home if you can. Stay safe.