New theatres will carry out faster surgery

Four new operating theatres will be created in central Auckland to increase the amount of non-urgent surgery.

Health Minister Tony Ryall announced the $24 million refurbishment yesterday. He expects it to help to address the shortfall in elective services for patients in the Auckland District Health Board area.

On 2008-09 figures, Auckland DHB was below the national average for many kinds of surgery, including cataracts, gallbladder removal and hernia repair, but has made some progress since.

The new theatres and supporting wards will be created within existing buildings at the board's Greenlane Clinical Centre and are expected to open by the middle of next year. Up to 80 extra staff will be needed.

The new unit will be dedicated to elective surgery.

This is a growing trend internationally aimed at protecting the resources provided for elective operations from the more immediate demands of acute and emergency surgery.

The Counties Manukau District Health Board already successfully operates this separation model at its Manukau Surgery Centre, which has 10 operating theatres, two procedure rooms and 78 inpatient beds.

The centre provides day surgery and elective and acute arranged surgery for patients who are expected to need neither intensive care nor interventional radiology.

The new Greenlane theatres will cater mainly for patients who are treated and discharged on the same day - and a proportion who will need to stay overnight. Auckland DHB - and the public health system nationally - has significantly increased its volume of elective surgery.

But Mr Ryall said Auckland DHB needed to perform about 2000 more elective procedures a year.

The new theatres were "part of how Auckland is going to be able to improve access to electives for its residents and part of the Government's commitment to expand public hospital capacity".

National promised before the 2008 election to build 20 new dedicated elective surgery theatres, with associated beds and facilities, over five years. It estimated at the time that this would cost about $36 million.

Mr Ryall said yesterday that talks were under way with the Waitemata DHB about potentially providing an elective surgery "super centre", similar to the new theatres at Greenlane, in the Waitemata area. That was the extent of plans for the 2008-11 parliamentary term because the Government was "constrained for capital".

Auckland DHB CEO Garry Smith said the new Greenlane theatres would focus mainly on relatively straightforward day-stay procedures.

HOSPITALS OPERATION BOOST
* How many theatres - four.
* Purpose - elective surgery.
* Where - Greenlane Clinical Centre.
* When - to open by mid-2011.
* Cost - $24 million.
* After that - possibly more of the same at Waitemata District Health Board.