Thousands of Australians are scrambling to re-book long-awaited surgery and medical appointments originally scheduled for next Thursday after it was declared a public holiday to mark the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW president Dr Michael Bonning criticised the decision which he said would cause further strain on an already stretched health system.
"This has been a year of significant disruption in health care anyway and we have thousands of people around the country who have booked surgery," Dr Bonning told ABC Radio Sydney.
"People make these decisions a long way in advance, they plan for it and it is very difficult to get another day planned simply because you have to be re-booked and rescheduled.
"Our system is working as hard as it can to get people seen and operated on."
New South Wales hospitals have already had to delay elective surgery several times during the pandemic due to the pressure caused by COVID-19.
Dr Bonning suggested a day of mourning for the Queen without a public holiday would have been a "reasonable option" to avoid more disruption.
"It's certainly important that we try this year to keep as many things on track as possible."
Appointment juggle
Many GPs and other medical clinics are also expected to close with staff working hard to reschedule patients at the last minute.
Elizabeth Stewart said her mother, Ratka Kolupacev, has an eye procedure every eight weeks to treat macular degeneration. Her next appointment with the ophthalmologist is September 22.
"It's something that she has to have done or she risks losing her sight," Ms Stewart said.
Her 84-year-old mother has lost sight in one eye due to a brain tumour and requires the procedure to save her remaining sight in her other eye.
Ms Stewart said she spoke to her mother about the need to rearrange the appointment.
"She's really stressed about it, everything is a maximum stressor for her nowadays."
Ms Stewart questioned the lengths Australia was going to mark the Queen's death.
"It's just extra stress. It's just extra inconvenience at a time when we have had a lot of that coming out of COVID. It strikes a very odd tone."
John Shapira, 66, was pencilled in for surgery next Thursday if scans confirmed what his surgeon suspects is a ruptured disc in his back.
His back deteriorated suddenly four weeks ago and the pain has made it difficult to walk or sleep.
"My left leg — I get a lot of pain in it, it's very weak, I'm walking with a stick. I have good days and bad days."
He is hoping it can be fixed sooner rather than later, but it is unclear whether his surgeon will be able to fit him in next.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the public holiday, telling Channel 7 it was an "appropriate response" despite the inconvenience.
Mr Albanese rejected claims surgeries would be cancelled because of the public holiday.
"The idea that operations don't occur during a public holiday is of course not correct. Medical procedures, of course, are always a priority."
The AMA expected private practices and surgeons across the country would have to reschedule appointments due to the extra staff costs or limited availability of health workers, particularly parents who are unable to access childcare.
Dr Bonning expected staffing issues would also affect public hospitals.
State and territory health agencies are still working out what impact the public holiday will have on elective surgery in public hospitals planned for next Thursday.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he had instructed hospitals to proceed with as many elective surgeries as possible, subject to staff availability.
Disruption for schools
The "one off" public holiday announced by Mr Albanese on Sunday has also thrown off plans in the education sector.
Many Year 12 students and their families had been looking forward to celebrating their graduation on September 22, while Year 11 exams were also planned for next week.
"It's going to cause a fair amount of disruption for us because just about every secondary school in NSW would probably be running their Year 11 exams next week," NSW Secondary Principals' Council president Craig Petersen told ABC Mornings presenter Cassie McCullagh.
"Of course it's also when pretty much every school in the state is going to be running their end of Year 12 graduation ceremonies and functions.
"We've got a lot of principals and staff around the state who are madly redoing exam timetables and looking at their farewell and formal functions."
Despite the unexpected change, Mr Petersen was confident that school leaders would work through it.
"It is such a significant event, that it's worthy of pause and reflection and certainly that celebration and commemoration of Her Majesty."
Businesses seek clarity
Many childcare centres are expected to close for the public holiday.
Australian Childcare Alliance president Nesha Hutchinson told ABC Mornings it was up to each centre to decide if they close and charge parents a fee for the day.
"This is an unusual one, something that people didn't plan for so it's up to the centre as to how they do it.
"We know that most centres are really surviving on a knife edge of viability let alone a profit so it is going to be impactful."
It's been a mixed reaction from the business sector.
Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said all public holidays come at a cost to business.
"For some businesses this is tough, this is actually an extra cost they weren't expecting, it's a challenge in scheduling staff," Mr Borger said.
"I suspect there are going to be mixed views about this in the community but equally we do live in a Commonwealth and we have had the Queen as our head of state for many, many decades so they'll be a lot of people expecting an opportunity to acknowledge, mourn to celebrate the life of the Queen."
The Australian Retailers Association has called for clarity on trading conditions for the public holiday to help shops decide whether to open or not.
