7 April 2025

Grampians Health’s new orthopedic surgeon and anaesthetist are modernising hip and knee replacement surgery at Wimmera Base Hospital.

The couple have brought to the Wimmera new skills and techniques they have learnt from 25 years of surgery in United Kingdom. Chhavvi and Subodh Srivastava settled in the region and started operating in Horsham just before Christmas.

Subodh said he and Chhavi were keen to establish an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery program for joint replacement procedures.

“Chhavi and her anaesthetic colleagues are pivotal to the success of this program,” Subodh said.

“We are modernising the hip and knee replacement pathways so that the patients can go home early using an enhanced recovery program,” he said.

Subodh is also working towards a same day service for joint replacement patients that was effective for them in the UK.

“If patients live far away or if they are frail, they might have to stay longer but usually if they are reasonably fit and active and are medically optimised, we encourage them to go home sooner.

“Of all the cases done so far, most have been successfully discharged home the following day. Chhavi and her anaesthetic colleagues play an important role in the comfort of patients post operatively, with a standardised, evidence-based pain management protocol which will help in the timely discharge of patients.”

Subodh has also reintroduced fracture surgery and has operated on broken wrists and ankles since their arrival.

“The orthopaedic clinic is up and running and the fracture clinic is for broken bones. We are doing hip and knee on a reasonably regular basis and that will pick up as we settle in,” he said.

“With Dr Ferraby Ling looking after shoulder surgery in Horsham, we are providing virtually a complete orthopaedic service now. As we get better equipment to support our work, those services will pick up even more.

“Chhavi has a keen interest in pre-operative assessment and optimisation of patients prior to surgery and is keenly involved in formalising this service. She also contributes to anaesthetising patients for other surgical specialties, obstetrics including analgesia for deliveries and has contributed to care of patients in the Emergency Department and ICU.”

Subodh and Chhavi met and married while they were training in their homeland of India. They worked briefly in Malaysia before moving to England 25 years ago where they retrained to British medical standards.

Chhavi became a requalified anaesthetist and consultant in 2007 and two years later Subodh was officially an orthopaedic surgeon and consultant.The couple worked at Staffordshire for 10 years then moved to Cumbria in 2015.

Their move to Australia was instigated by their son who has been working as a doctor at Royal Melbourne Hospital since 2021. Their daughter married an American and was living in US so living in the UK no longer had any real connection for Subodh and Chhavi.

Chhavi said she and Subodh felt very settled in the region, living in Horsham from Sundays to Wednesday nights and the remaining time in Ballarat so they were closer to their son on weekends.

“It has been a very positive introduction to the hospital. The nursing staff have tried their best to help us integrate and have always respected our requirements, Chhavi said.

“We have been very impressed with Horsham and the team at WBH because they are so willing to learn new methods,” she said.

“People don’t always want to change but the Horsham operating suite team have been fantastically supportive toward us.”

Subodh said that also applied to the team at Alan Wolff Medical Centre.

“The whole AWMC team got the fracture clinic up and running in a week or two which is a major task, but they all work so well together.

“From the nursing team and the management, it has been 100 percent support from everyone, and we could not ask for more.

“People are bending over backwards to help us get the equipment we need to grow the operating services the way we want.

“We are very pleased,” he said.

Grampians Health Chief Medical Officer Matthew Hadfield said the Srivastavas’ inclusion to the surgical team was the perfect fit for Horsham.

“We are so pleased to be able to support the region with such highly qualified consultants as Chhavi and Subodh and we welcome them to our growing Grampians Health surgical team,” he said.

“Grampians Health is committed to adapting and innovating to achieve the best outcomes for our region and this is another great example of that commitment.”