Hospital cashes in on Tahitians

By MARTIN JOHNSTON, health reporter

Green Lane Hospital is treating more than 70 heart patients a year from Tahiti under a profit-making deal with the French Polynesian territory.

The state-owned hospital revealed the nearly three-year-old deal yesterday, after Herald inquiries, and said it was preparing to negotiate a renewal.

The contract started around the same time as the controversial, user-pays Cornwall Suite at National Women's Hospital.

The National Party's then Health Minister Wyatt Creech was not told of either development beforehand.

The Auckland District Health Board, which runs Green Lane, has muzzled its head of heart surgery, Paget Milsom, from speaking about the money-making Tahitian scheme.

The chief executive, Graeme Edmond, said the $5 million-a-year deal with French Polynesian authorities was "a very good contract for us. It benefits us and New Zealand patients considerably".

He withheld the amount of profit it generated, but said around 70 Tahitian adults received heart surgery annually, about 8 per cent of the hospital's adult cardiac surgery.

The hospital also provided cardiology and children's heart services under the deal.

It helped to offset losses from some foreign patients whose Pacific Island Governments, mainly Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa, failed to pay for their treatment.

"The contribution from the Tahitian contract has enabled us to equip and open a fourth bypass theatre to provide greater capacity for other patients.

"New Zealanders are always our first priority. The Tahitian contract, however, enables us to maintain and develop the cardiac surgery infrastructure and service while delivering on contracts and addressing waiting-time goals."

The contract allowed Green Lane to smooth out peaks and troughs in its capacity and to operate more efficiently, Mr Edmond said.

Green Lane has been performing extra elective surgery to try to clear a backlog of patients after the waiting list blew out last month because of a surge in acute cases and a shortage of nurses.

Mr Edmond said that when capacity was tight, the Tahitian work was sub-contracted to the private Ascot Hospital because New Zealanders had to be treated first under Government policy.

But there is concern about the scheme among some staff.

A source said: "It's a widespread joke throughout Green Lane that the easiest way to receive cardiac surgery in Auckland is to be a Tahitian.

"This queue-jumping by foreign patients has led to considerable ill-feeling in the department."

Health Minister Annette King is overseas and could not be contacted.

Health Ministry spokesman Dr Colin Feek said he was aware of the deal and wanted assurances on any renewed contract.

"We have sought assurances from the ... board that the contract is not compromising Green Lane's ability to perform operations."

National's health spokesman, Roger Sowry, said he did not object to the principle of treating private patients in the public system.

The problem was that at Green Lane it had coincided with increases in waiting times for New Zealand patients.

nzherald.co.nz/hospitals