A one-off public holiday was announced for the National Day of Mourning of Her Majesty the Queen and like all public holiday’s, cafe bookings and penalty rates will be applied.

The Australian Medical Association is asking for more clarity on elective surgery bookings for the 22nd of September as they flag potential schedule chaos.

Dr Mark Duncan-Smith, President of the Australian Medical Association (WA) told Oliver Peterson on Perth Live that the short notice of the public holiday has already caused disorder.

“We’ve got some patients that have been booked in for surgery on that date for months, certainly patients that I’ve had booked for that day on wait-lists for 6 months to see me. So it is very disruptive,” Dr Duncan-Smith said.

Oly asked whether Dr Duncan-Smith had received any information on potential cancellations of surgeries in the public sector.

“I haven’t heard anything yet and I am sure WA Health will advise the public in a timely matter but I expect that they will cancel elective surgeries in the public sector. My understanding in private is that majority of private hospitals will continue to do elective surgeries as usual, but a lot of those are yet to confirm.”

Press PLAY to hear what you can expect for the health system on the new public holiday