Health chief's plea: Use our hospital for surgery

SOLID SERVICE: The WDHB beat five of six health targets. PHOTO/FILE A_300114WCBRCSTO02

Wanganui residents need to start coming to Whanganui Hospital for surgery if "healthy staffing levels" are to be maintained, chief executive Julie Patterson says.

The latest target results show Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB) achieved 105 per cent against the 100 per cent target for improved access to elective surgery, but local residents heading out of town for surgeries were not helping.

"It's fair to say that the good access that Wanganui residents have to the WDHB's surgical services is due in part to our health staffing levels," Mrs Patterson said.

"However, if the WDHB is to maintain its current staffing levels, those needing surgery do need to look to Whanganui as their hospital of choice for their surgical care. Unfortunately, people sometimes look elsewhere due to a perception that access to care in our hospital is limited when, comparatively speaking, this is not the case."

WDHB ranked 12th out of New Zealand's 20 district health boards for improved access to elective surgery - Northland ranking first with 131 per cent.

Other target results showed WDHB to be second in the country for increased immunisation with 96 per cent, against the target of 95 per cent.

Whanganui Regional Health Network chief executive Judith MacDonald thanked her staff for their effort in achieving the target.

"We know Wanganui's primary health staff are doing everything they can to make sure children in our community are immunised and immunised on time, and it's not easy when families move around or children become sick, but our staff are tenacious and it's paid off," she said.

While Mrs MacDonald was hoping primary health workers would reach the 90 per cent target for better help for smokers to quit, she was heartened that the result had moved to 87 per cent from 84 per cent in the previous quarter.

WDHB achieved 96 per cent for the 95 per cent set for hospitals.

While it surpassed five of the six health targets, it was lagging more than 20 per cent behind the 85 per cent target for providing faster cancer treatment, at 62 per cent.

Mrs Patterson said she was comfortable that WDHB staff had good systems in place to help them lift the results. The target asks that 85 per cent of patients will receive their first cancer treatment or other management within 62 days of being referred. The target will increase to 90 per cent by June 2017.