Katherine Jeffery, a Sydney-based anaesthetist and Australian Medical Association (AMA) representative, said she had already been limited to one-litre of fluid in a six-hour procedure.

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She said a patient fasting for surgery was “like a car running on a near-empty tank”, and IV fluids were the simplest way to deliver power to the fasting body and prevent complications such as heart or kidney injury.

“I am worried because I cannot do my normal practice,” she said. “If I don’t get enough fluids in the right patient, they’re not going to wake up well.”

AMA NSW Vice President Fred Betros, a general surgeon in western Sydney, said the restrictions were not to the levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but hospitals had “enacted dramatic changes” to allow elective surgeries to continue.

“We have been told to restrict IV fluids unless they are absolutely necessary,” he said. “My concern is that if we don’t have enough IV fluids we risk having to cancel non-urgent elective surgery.”

The number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for a planned surgery has returned to pre-pandemic levels after ballooning to 14,000 at the height of restrictions.

Health Minister Ryan Park and NSW Health were approached for comment.

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