The delays risk “bed block” - when a patient needing surgery takes up a hospital bed needed for emergency cases. Photo / 123rf.com
The delays risk “bed block” - when a patient needing surgery takes up a hospital bed needed for emergency cases. Photo / 123rf.com
One in two New Zealanders needing heart surgery waited longer than the maximum time frame considered appropriate by their specialists.
The alarming situation is revealed in figures obtained by the Herald. At one major hospital, 77 patients out of 112 waited too long.
Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin publichospitals do cardiac surgery, operating on people from around the country.
The latest available waitlist figures, from September 17, show Wellington had the lowest proportion of cases overdue, with nearly one in three of its patients waiting too long.
Next best was Christchurch (49 per cent overdue), Auckland (50 per cent), and Dunedin (61 per cent). At Waikato Hospital, 69 per cent of patients were overdue their surgery.
Nationally, just over half of cardiac surgery patients were overdue.
Last month the Herald revealed delays were so severe that in January officials prepared to brief the Health Minister about sending sick patients to Australia.
Flying patients to Australia would have echoed past crises, including in the 2000s when dozens of cancer patients were sent across the Tasman because of a shortage of radiation therapists.
However, Te Whatu Ora dropped plans to brief the minister after opposition from clinicians.
Authorities say progress has been made since then, including by transferring patients between regions, but warn “there is no quick fix to the problem”, with issues including a shortage of staffed recovery beds.
“All cardiac surgical units have a clinical review process for patients on the wait list, which allows escalation as needed,” Te Whatu Ora stated when releasing the latest figures, under the Official Information Act.
People accepted for heart surgery are put in urgency bands. Treatment should happen within a clinically appropriate timeframe set to each band.
The most urgent should be treated within 72 hours, “Band 2″ within 10 days, “Band 3″ between 11-30 days, and the least urgent, “Band 4″, within 90 days.
Te Whatu Ora provided an overall figure for each hospital - “inside urgency band” and “outside urgency band”.
In March a front-page Herald story revealed Waikato Hospital was sending patients to Auckland because nearly 80 people on its cardiac surgery wait lists were overdue, including those too sick to leave hospital.
The hospital was also investigating after a patient died while on the cardiac surgical wait list in October last year. The person should have had surgery within 90 days, but had been waiting 115 days.
In releasing the latest figures, Te Whatu Ora stated, “we are not aware of any other deaths that are attributed to waiting beyond recommended times for cardiac surgery over this time”.
The delays risk “bed block” - when a patient needing surgery takes up a hospital bed needed for emergency cases.
When Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand was established in mid-2022, chief executive Margie Apa issued a directive to hospitals that no person should be waiting for more than a year for surgery by the end of this year.
The target, which excludes orthopaedic operations, is expected to be reached.
Medical staff this month told the Herald hospitals have gone into overdrive, running surgery lists on weekends and offering staff double pay to work those shifts.
But that has contributed to last-minute cancellations during the week, they said, as there are not enough nurses to work in theatres.
National campaigned on reintroducing national health targets, including a target for wait times. It also wants to recruit more nurses through bonding schemes and make it easier for foreign nurses to work in New Zealand.
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If you can help us shed light on this issue, contact investigative reporter Nicholas Jones by email: nicholas.jones@nzme.co.nz
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Nicholas Jones is an investigative reporter at the New Zealand Herald. He won the best individual investigation and best social issues reporter categories at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
