TRANSFORMING SURGICAL WAITLIST INTO A ‘PREPARATION LIST’
With
Dr Andrew Marks,
Staff Specialist Anaesthetist & Director of Perioperative Medicine,
Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Dr Kanika Chaudhri,
Anaesthetic Senior Resident Medical Officer,
Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
CASE STUDY
Filmed in Sydney, Australia | January 2026
The DIAMONDS initiative aims to transform the surgical waitlist into a “preparation list,” enabling healthcare professionals to optimise patient care in the months leading up to elective surgery starting at pre-admission phase.
Patients are will be able to complete pre-admission forms online, receive timely updates, and access educational resources to ensure thorough preparation. This will allow staff to spend more time with patients.
The DIAMONDS pathway, which stands for ‘Digital Pathway of Improved Assessment, Management and Optimisation of Patients for Planned Surgery’ has commenced at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
patient care by streamlining assessments and addressing the challenges of the existing paper-based system.
“Staff benefit by having centralised patient information and automated routine tasks, allowing them to focus on providing high-quality care, which ultimately leads to a smoother, more efficient process for everyone involved”, says Dr Kanika Chaudhri.
“Patients benefit from user-friendly tools that enable them to complete pre-admission forms online and access educational resources, enhancing their care experience,” she said.
DIAMONDS is led by the New South Wales, Northern Sydney Local Health District, with collaboration partners Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) and the George Institute for Global Health.
Source: Adapted from NSLHD news and events
-
Inner ear organoids for the study of human hearing and balance
Dr Jackie Ogier is an auditory neuroscientist, with a research focus on the molecular biology of hair cells, the specialised sensory receptors in the ear that detect sound and balance. She is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of A/Prof Bryony Nayagam, supported by a prestigious Passe and Williams foundation fellowship.
Dr Ogier’s experience broadly spans the genetics of hearing loss, disease modelling, micro dissection, primary cell culture, stem cell culture, organoids, and proteomics. Overall, she aims to generate knowledge of hearing and vestibular sensory biology.
-
Role of metabolic dysfunction in advanced prostate cancer
Dr Gunter was drawn to the area of prostate cancer research and the intersection between chronic metabolic disorders and their emerging relationship to cancer. Her strengths include expertise in the metabolic syndrome, insulin signalling and metabolism, and she has a demonstrated record of successful and productive research projects in metabolic research where she now applies her efforts to understanding the role of metabolic dysfunction in advanced prostate cancer.
-
Nutraceutical and pharmacological intervention in neurological disorders
Dr Virginie Lam is a neuroscientist and cerebrovascular biologist with over 15 years of research experience, including more than seven years post-PhD. She co-leads the Neurovascular and Metabolic Diseases Laboratory at the Curtin Medical Research Institute and holds an affiliate appointment at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. Her research focuses on the interface between neurovascular health, cognitive function, and therapeutic translation in neurodegenerative disorders.
