Children's hospital surgery has been cancelled due to new border travel limits.
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Three operations slated for this week at Wangaratta's public hospital in Victoria will not occur because the paediatric surgeon lives in Albury, NSW, and would have to quarantine for 14 days on returning to NSW.
Northeast Health Wangaratta interim chief executive Tim Griffiths said eight ear, nose and throat procedures had also been cancelled and seven emergency cases rescheduled to after hours.
The hospital has 80 staff, nurses, allied health staff and doctors, from NSW, mostly Albury, who cannot do their jobs without facing self-isolation orders on crossing the Murray River after shifts.
"At the moment that staff group aren't coming down to Wangaratta," Mr Griffiths said.
"All but two are frontline staff so it's impacting on surgery and it means we've got staff doing double shifts and it's impacting our ability to provide medical imaging, CT scans, because there's a large cohort in the radiology group."
The snag has been taken to Victorian and NSW health departments, cross border commissioners and MPs.
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"Once they understand the significance and the impact of it there will be a change, that is my hope and expectation," Mr Griffiths said.
The member for Indi Helen Haines said it was a "completely untenable situation".
"The NSW Government's failure to consult, listen and use common sense when making its border closure rules has led to what we've feared
"It's made a crisis out of its effort to contain one."
NSW cross border commissioner James McTavish said talks were occurring between health departments but noted it was particularly critical that health workers self-isolate if they go beyond the blue zone.
"We know it's a substantial impost, but that's the way things have landed," Mr McTavish said.
The Murrumbidgee Local Health District has 150 staff from Victoria working in NSW and they can only have a border permit if they are working on the frontline and cannot work from home.