Handling of patients 'unacceptable', says Minister

Pete Hodgson

Health Minister Pete Hodgson said today the management of patients by Hawke's Bay District Health Board was "unacceptable".

But National MP Tony Ryall claimed the decision at Hawke's Bay was in reaction to a hostile letter from the Government.

The district health board yesterday decided to dump 1800 patients from its hospital waiting list.

They have either been waiting for more than six months -- the Health Ministry's guideline limit -- or are in low priority treatment categories.

The patients are being referred back to their doctors, and DHB chief executive Chris Clarke said yesterday it was better to be honest with them about their chances of getting an appointment than keep them on the waiting list.

Mr Hodgson met with officials last night to discuss the situation at Hawke's Bay DHB.

"I think the management of patients in Hawke's Bay by the district health board is unacceptable. I just don't think that it is okay to raise people's expectations and then not deliver," he told National Radio.

"And if you crowd your system with people needing to see a specialist to a greater or lesser extent, then those people who need to see the specialist most can be shut out by those people who need to see the specialist the least and it's not okay."

Mr Hodgson said the DHB was doing really well in terms of the number of patients actually getting their surgery.

"They are putting through more hips and knees ...than average. They are really churning them out."

But while the DHB was to be congratulated for that, it had not managed priorities for those on the waiting list.

Mr Hodgson said officials would go next week to help the Hawke's Bay DHB sort out its list.

Mr Clarke said yesterday there had been an unprecedented demand from patients wanting to see specialists, and the situation had arisen despite the DHB increasing its number of specialists and clinics.

The patients will get a voucher to see their doctor, who will reassess them.

National's Tony Ryall He said the decision followed a letter from the Ministry of Health berating the DHB for its growing waiting list and telling it an "intensive monitoring regime" could be imposed.

About two-thirds of the DHBs were doing well but there were concerns over a third.

Mr Ryall said the letter from the ministry had been sent to seven other DHBs -- Auckland, Waitemata, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Capital and Coast and Canterbury.

National understood other DHBs were preparing to respond in a similar way to Hawke's Bay, Mr Ryall said.

Ministry of Health guidelines say patients referred to a specialist by a doctor should not wait more than six months for their first appointment.

- NZPA