What does 'code brown' mean to health care decision making?

The spike in the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide is putting pressure on all Australian healthcare services. In Victoria, the emergency adoption of Code Brown in several hospitals has caused delays in non-essential services including elective surgery and IV-F procedures.

Victoria declared a code brown emergency as the system buckles under COVID-19 admissions and staff shortages. Source: AAP

Code Brown is the country's recognized code used by health services under external emergencies to reduce pressure on hospitals.

When Coder Brown is implemented, most elective surgeries including IVF will be postponed because health workers including doctors and nurses will be focused on emergencies, in this case handling the pandemic.

But the decision to include IV-F services, as part of the suspension of elective procedures, drew heavy criticism from both patients and medical professionals.

As external pressure mounted, the IV-F suspension of service was revisited and Premier Daniel Andrews announced the change.

"IVF Capillary Tube Insertion" by ZEISS Microscopy Source: This photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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