Neurosurgery

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, together with Royal Perth Hospital (RPH), Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) and Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH, elective spine only), is home to the State Neurosurgery Service.

The service is a major tertiary provider for the investigation and treatment of neurosurgical disorders, training and research in WA.

The SCGH Neurosurgery Department is the primary neurosurgery centre and receives the vast majority of referrals for inpatient and outpatient care. This includes general and subspecialty interests in neurosurgery, neurovascular, neuro-oncology, movement disorders, epilepsy, and congenital disorders. The Unit works closely with a team of advanced scope spine physiotherapists.The inpatient unit is on Ward G52 (cranial) and Ward G66 (spine) and has a neurosurgical High Dependency Unit.

Additional services are provided at other sites. Royal Perth Hospital manages most traumatic brain injuries, Perth Children’s Hospital manages paediatric neurosurgery, and Fiona Stanley and Osborne Park Hospitals undertake only elective spine surgery. A team of consultants, service registrars, international fellows/senior registrars, and RACS trainees are employed under the state-wide service rota and cross-cover across each campus. They are supervised by the state-wide service.

Collaborations with the State Epilepsy Service (headed by Dr Chan under Neurology) have enabled our surgeons (Dr Chandran, Prof Lee, Dr Lam) to provide tertiary level services like awake craniotomies, SEEG and LITT procedures in addition to standard movement disorders and epilepsy surgeries. Our Neurovascular subspecialty team works closely in tandem with the NISSWA/endovascular service. The unit also works with the sarcoma group to provide other complex spinal surgeries. The State’s multidisciplinary pituitary endocrine clinic occurs monthly.