Wellington Hospital's troubled cancer unit says a new system has reduced waiting times for cancer outpatients.
Wellington Hospital audit and quality coordinator Karen Corban said waiting times for outpatients needing chemotherapy had been cut from hours to minutes.
The new system had also reduced nurses' overtime and drugwastage, she said.
"With a 50 per cent rise in demand over the last five years, patients were spending several hours in the waiting room while nurses worked overtime to get through the backlog.
"Now most patients are seen within 20 minutes," she said.
Under the new system pharmacy staff nurses were given patient information 48 hours before an appointment.
Chemotherapy drugs were then ready 24 hours ahead of time, she said.
"When the patient arrives at the outpatient centre their drugs are already made up for them, cutting down on long waiting times."
Since the project began nurses' overtime had fallen from 61 hours to 22 hours over three months, she said.
The amount of wasted chemotherapy drugs had also dropped from 4 per cent to less than 1 per cent.
Ms Corban said the project had earned Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) a place in the 2008 New Zealand Health Innovation Awards (HIA).
The HIA were started in 2003 to recognise individuals and organisations with innovative approaches for better health services.
The Wellington cancer unit has struggled for some time but the surprise resignation of a senior oncologist last year pushed services to the limit.
Patients in the lower North Island were then sent to Auckland and Christchurch as the DHB fought to resolve the staffing crisis.
