Cancer care taxes capacity

North Shore Hospital could help to reduce Auckland City Hospital patients' long waits for potentially life-saving chemotherapy, a senior doctor says.

"We have spare capacity in our system," North Shore haematologist Dr David Simpson said yesterday.

But despite a willingness by doctors at both hospitals to move some patients, resolving issues such as shifting money to hire the necessary extra nurses at North Shore could take months.

New patients with potentially curable cancer can expect to wait up to seven weeks at Auckland - four to see a cancer specialist and a further three before starting treatment. Patients judged in most urgent need will be seen sooner.

However, maximum delays are even greater at Waikato Hospital - about 10 weeks for newly-referred patients to see a cancer specialist, followed by up to two weeks to start treatment.

Dr Simpson said haematology patients, including those with leukaemia, had been receiving chemotherapy at North Shore Hospital since 2001. Auckland specialists prescribed chemotherapy for other cancer sufferers at North Shore, but the patients had to go to Auckland City Hospital for the treatment.

"They are swamped at Auckland. It seems crazy when we do have the spare capacity and there is no waiting list here."

He said there had been talks on giving chemotherapy to non-haematology cancer patients at North Shore and he was sure the required number of cancer nurses could be hired.

But the hospital's general manager, Rachel Haggerty, said that despite the internal discussions, there were no plans to to implement Dr Simpson's suggestion soon.

"We don't have the capacity - we have the doctor time, but we don't have the beds, nurses, budget or the drugs."

Auckland City Hospital's clinical director of medical oncology, Dr Richard Sullivan, acknowledged that many issues needed to be sorted out, but he hoped chemotherapy could be expanded beyond haematology patients this year.

The North Shore-based Waitemata District Health Board buys some cancer services from the Auckland board.

The Auckland and Waitemata boards are planning a $30 million radiotherapy and chemotherapy satellite cancer centre for the North Shore.

Waikato Hospital's medical services manager, Neil McKelvie, said maximum delays for its newly-referred cancer patients were reducing, following appointments to two new cancer specialist positions, bringing the number of medical oncologists to five.

He hoped that by July all "non-urgent" patients would be treated within the Health Ministry's four-week guideline.

But the Tauranga Breast Cancer Support Service's co-ordinator, Julie Blake, said the total wait for treatment was currently around 14 weeks in Waikato. "It's most distressing and upsetting for the women."

CHEMOTHERAPY DELAYS

Auckland City Hospital: up to seven weeks.

Waikato Hospital: up to 12 weeks.

Both say waiting times are declining.