The Health NZ spokeswoman said Gisborne Hospital had a general surgeon-led endoscopy service, with five general surgeons covering endoscopy demand, and the number of colonoscopies being performed was increasing.
Demand and referrals for colonoscopies has increased in Gisborne primarily because of the National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP), which invites New Zealanders aged between 60 and 74 to have a free bowel screening every two years, and the pilot programme reducing the age for Māori and Pasifika people to the age of 50.
The age for the NBSP was lowered to 58 in some regions during October, with the new age coming into effect in Tairāwhiti early next year.
According to the Cancer Society, the NBSP participation rate for NZ European/other is 62%, exceeding the target participation rate of 60%, but the programme’s reach is much lower to Māori (50.2%), and Pacific (38.7%) and Asian peoples (43.7%).
Bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
The private sector is being used more often by Health NZ and individuals to service growing demand.
In 2024, 48,056 colonoscopies were performed across the country in public hospitals and 10,364 were publicly funded but performed in the private sector, according to Health NZ data.
That followed 47,163 public hospital colonoscopies and 20,364 publicly funded private hospital colonoscopies in the private sector in 2023.
Health NZ does not hold information on how many Tairāwhiti people might use the private sector, but 23,290 people had self-funded colonoscopies in the private sector across NZ in the 2021-2022 year.
The Government has announced a $65 million diagnostic plan aimed at reducing waiting times for critical diagnostic procedures such as MRI scans, colonoscopies and colposcopies.
The plan, over the next 12 months, is expected to fund 7100 colonoscopies through public and private providers across the country.
