The Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit at Barwon Health is the major tertiary provider of adult cardiac surgery and major thoracic oncologic surgery in the Geelong and South West Region. The scope of work covers a wide range of operations on heart and lungs with the exception of transplantation.

Conditions seen

Barwon Health offers a cardiothoracic service for the following conditions:

  • Cardiac Surgery
    • Coronary Artery Disease
    • Aortic Valve disease treated by TAVI or open surgery
    • Mitral Valve disease
    • Infective endocarditis
    • Atrial Fibrillation
    • Thoracic Aortic aneurysm, ulceration or dissection
    • Cardiac tumours
    • Cardiac aneurysms
    • Cardiac septal defects
    • Pericardial disease or tamponade
  • Thoracic Surgery
    • Lung tumours and ground glass changes
    • Pleural disease – pneumothorax, tumours, effusion, infection
    • Mediastinal Tumour, removal or biopsy
    • Bronchial tumours and strictures
    • Rib fixation for fractures
    • Congenital or benign tumours
    • Chest wall masses

Conditions not seen

Barwon Health does not accept referrals for the following conditions:

  • Congenital Sternal malformation (Pectus)
  • Hyperhydrosis

How do I access this service

To be seen in the Cardiothoracic specialist clinic you need to be referred by your GP, another specialist doctor or your Barwon Health doctor.

We are unable to see you in our clinics without a referral.

Wait time

All requests for specialist clinic appointments are scheduled according to the patient’s clinical need. Clinicians assess whether an appointment is urgent or routine, based on information provided in the referral.

Barwon Health aims to see all ‘urgent’ referrals within 30 days. Our wait times for patients who are categorised as ‘routine’ are more variable, depending on the demand for our services.

The Victorian Agency for Health Information also publishes information about the waiting time for routine first appointments.

Routine first appointments | Victorian Agency for Health Information

Speciality
Projected wait time

No Wait times to show

For Health Professionals

State-referral criteria may apply for conditions under this specialty requiring further assessment and management. Referring clinicians are encouraged to utilise Western Victoria Community HealthPathways for referral guidelines and requirements for all conditions.

For urgent referral advice, please contact the specialty on-call registrar via Barwon Health switchboard on 03 4215 0000.

Complete the specialist clinics referral template and send via:

  • ReferralNet
  • Fax: 03 4215 1989

Referral templates for Barwon Health services are available for importing into Best Practice, Medical Director or ZedMed. Please see the Referral templates page for the most up-to-date forms.

If you do not use the above clinical software, please complete a referral letter on your practice/health service letterhead, ensuring all required referral information is included.

If you need to contact us regarding the templates, please contact the GP Liaison Unit on 03 4215 8845 or [email protected].

For patients who require reassessment, a new referral should be sent through. To facilitate earlier access, the new referral must contain the following information:

  • State the referral is an update for a current patient
  • Date of original referral
  • Reason for requesting a review of referral (e.g. deterioration in clinical condition, pathology)

The referrer will be notified of the outcome of the re-triage process.

GPs or referring doctors wishing to discuss the triage of their patient’s referral, or who require additional information, please ring the GP hotline on 03 4215 1398.

Page last updated: September 9, 2025