Coronavirus, Elective Surgery and Your Appointment With Dr Cheng

Our  team have been working hard behind the scenes to keep our community as safe as possible both in our rooms and in surgery with the threat of covid-19.  Many of you will have seen the latest updates from the prime minister today in relation to elective or non-urgent surgery.

What does the latest government update mean for my booked surgery with Dr Cheng?

• All procedures which are non-critical will now need to be postponed in the coming days.
• For our patients who have surgery booked in the next few months, our team will be in touch with you in the coming days to discuss your options.

What type of elective procedures does this include?

• Breast augmentation
• Breast lift or mastopexy
• Abdominoplasty or tummy tuck
• Post weight loss or body contouring surgery eg. arm lift, thigh lift
• Liposuction
• Breast reconstruction 
• Facelift
• Eyelid surgery
• Brow lift surgery
• Injectables 
• Breast reduction
• Revision surgery

What surgeries will still continue?

• Most Skin cancer surgery that should not be delayed eg. melanomas, SCC, BCC on the face will continue as scheduled.
• Surgery related to Trauma or infection
• Ruptured breast implants causing pain or discomfort and removal of breast implants causing excessive pain and discomfort.

Will my consultation still go ahead?

Where possible we would encourage our patients to avoid face to face consultations and attend online consultations via our telehealth or video options.  This will reduce everyone's risk and allow us to maintain social distancing requirements in our workplace. 

Is AR Plastic Surgery still open?

• My team and I are still here to care for our recovering patients and provide ongoing aftercare and follow up both in clinic and online where this is possible.
• We are still working with our skin cancer patients who have urgent surgery needs.

We would like to do everything possible to keep you safe and flatten the curve to protect our community while still looking after you.  In light of this, we would like to encourage telehealth or video/phone appointments where possible.  You can learn more about our telehealth and our clinic 
here. 

If you are attending our rooms and we would appreciate it if patients can assist with the following requests: 

1. Attend your appointment at the allotted.  If you arrive early please remain in our building foyer or your car until your scheduled appointment time.

2. Please attend your appointment alone. Please refrain from bringing friends, family and children to your appointment as this increases the number of people in our rooms.

3. Please use the washrooms located just outside our office to wash your hands on arrival. Apply hand sanitiser provided at our reception lounge on arrival and departure.

4. Please respect social distancing requirements and remain 1.5m away from other clients and staff. #footshake only!

5. Temperature - for your safety and the safety of our team, temperatures will be taken on arrival. 

6. Follow government guidelines with respect to travel and isolation as this will also apply to your appointments and surgery.

For patients attending a necessary appointment in our rooms please answer the following questions?

1. Are you feeling unwell with symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough or shortness of breath?

2. Have you had close contact* with someone who has a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19)? *face-to-face contact for more than 15 minutes, or have shared an enclosed space for more than two hours.

3. Have you travelled overseas in the last 14 days?

4. Did you travel to Queensland after midnight Wednesday 25 March?

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO any of the above questions PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND in person, contact our rooms immediately. 

How can I reach Dr Cheng if I have a concern?

Please know, our team and I are here to talk to you when you need us via  phone, email, online chat, socials, and our website. For my patients I am still available as always via mobile phone to take care of you 24/7.

This too will pass and we will get through this challenging time as a community. Stay well, stay safe, wash your hands and keep social distancing.