CardioScan manager Jez Morris wants to help reverse the concerning heart health trends across New Zealand. Photo / NZME
CardioScan Aotearoa is on a mission to reverse New Zealand’s rural heart healthcare after a damning research report.
The Taranaki-based organisation offers a range of cardiorespiratory tests aimed at early and fast diagnosis of heart, lung and sleep-related complaints.
Manager Jez Morris said it was not a surprise cardiac care had been “under the microscope” in recent times as it was the leading cause of death across the globe.
Morris was referring to a report commissioned by The Heart of Aotearoa – Kia Manawanui Trust and prepared by the University of Otago that described New Zealand’s heart healthcare as “on the verge of collapse”.
Areas, including Whanganui and the central North Island, with the fewest cardiac specialists had the highest death rates, according to the report.
In 2020, there were just over 150 heart disease deaths per 100,000 people in Whanganui and there were no specialist cardiologists identified as of September 2024.
The report revealed a workforce shortage, with New Zealand having a third of the cardiologists it should have.
Morris said the shortage was a “double-edged sword” in the likes of Whanganui.
While there were not enough cardiologists being produced, those who were being trained were not exposed to provinces to find out what it was like to work there.
“Historically, in places like Whanganui, we’d have a general physician who had an interest in cardiology or respiratory,” Morris said.
“What happens nowadays is, when we train people that want to go into cardiology, they are very into the modern techniques and interventions that fixes the physical heart. Unfortunately, in places like Whanganui, we don’t do that.
“As these guys go through training, they don’t come out to the provinces because we can’t do the type of work that they want to do. They are interventionist; they are not so much concerned about the diagnostic testing side, they are concerned about the getting in there and fixing.”
CardioScan expanded its services to Whanganui in May 2024, setting up a sleep specialist cardio clinic.
It aims to address heart monitoring techniques and preventative practices before heart issues flare up.
CardioScan provides diagnostic Holter tests, portable sleep studies, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring devices and electrocardiograms.
Morris said CardioScan began a joint venture with Tairāwhiti in 2023 and had done 2000 diagnostic Holter tests which identified 25% of those patients had a significant cardiac problem.
Tairāwhiti was up with Whanganui for heart disease deaths and fewest cardiologists in the report. Morris believed a reassessment would now provide different data.
“I’d be really interested at some time to repeat those review statistics because I think we are moving the needle in the right way,” Morris said.
“We are not ignoring Whanganui. They are next on our list because we see them like Tairāwhiti and Taranaki, they are the areas we want to get into.
“We are not interested in the main centres. They are well serviced and well looked after - we are more focused on that rural community outreach.”
Morris said CardioScan had been actively trying to find out who to speak with at Whanganui Hospital about heart health.
He aimed to visit Whanganui GPs over the next six to eight weeks to make them and patients aware of CardioScan’s services.
Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora’s Whanganui group director of operations Katherine Fraser-Chapple said Whanganui Hospital did not have a resident specialist cardiologist and there were no plans to recruit one.
“Whanganui Hospital is a secondary-level facility that provides a range of cardiac services, including diagnostic procedures such as cardiac echocardiography, long-term care for cardiac patients and follow-up appointments for some patients seen by visiting cardiologists,” Fraser-Chapple said.
“Our general medicine physicians also have experience and expertise in managing cardiac conditions.
“Patients requiring specialist cardiology care are referred to the cardiology service at Palmerston North Hospital. Acute or complex cases, including those requiring cardiothoracic surgery, are referred to Wellington Hospital.”
The report said the total annual cost of heart disease to the New Zealand economy was an estimated $13.8 billion.
Morris believed there needed to be a focus on preventative practices and communication to try to reduce heart problems.
“We need to make sure we have all of those wrap-around services. There is no point in saying to someone, ‘yes you have a heart problem, here is a pill and off you go’, because if we don’t deal with all the other things, that heart problem will get worse.
“It is finding out from the hospital where they see need. We see sleep patients there and we know that 80% of cardiac patients are impacted by sleep. If someone snores and stops breathing, their chances of developing a cardiac problem are really high so we need to think that cardiology isn’t just about the heart.”
A person’s diet and lifestyle could also lead to a cardiac problem.
Morris said it was important to prioritise supporting the cardiac healthcare system because of its impact on Kiwis.
“It is the single biggest cause of death in New Zealand. What is worrying for us is that we are seeing it in a younger population.
“When I first got into medicine 30 years ago, to see someone die of a heart attack was a shock - now it is unusual, but we are not shocked which is concerning in itself.
“Unless we do something, we are going to see it affect more and more people in a younger population.”
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.