Heart unit's move delays surgery for some children

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

Some children needing heart surgery will have their operations delayed by the shifting of New Zealand's only paediatric cardiac unit.

The unit, now a part of adult services at Green Lane Hospital, will in November move to the Starship children's hospital in Grafton.

The number of operations would be reduced for two to four weeks during the move, Auckland District Health Board acting chief medical officer Dr David Knight said yesterday after the issue was raised in Parliament.

The effect on patients would be minimal.

"A few children may be operated on earlier, a few of the non-urgent cases may be operated on a month or two later, but they will certainly be able to do any urgent surgery throughout the whole time of the move," he said.

National's health spokeswoman, Lynda Scott, highlighted in Parliament the case of 4-year-old MacLean Winiata, of Hobsonville in Auckland, whose surgery had been put back from last month to after next February.

She claims that her asking the board about the case resulted in it re-scheduling his treatment for October.

But Dr Knight said two doctors made the change for social reasons - the boy's mother, Kathryn Winiata, had written to the cardiologist - and clinical reasons.

The mother, a National voter, said last night MacLean was diagnosed last September as having a deformed and contorted aorta. The surgery would remove the problem piece of the artery.

In a letter to board chairman Wayne Brown, released by National, she outlined her concerns for her son's health and the effects on their family of waiting for his surgery.

And she told Dr Scott in a letter that she was appalled that her son had not been treated in a timely way.

But last night, she said it had responded promptly to her concerns and had been flexible.