Whanganui District Health Board is close to achieving the "gold standard" of waiting times for diagnostic tests - thanks to radiology staff offering to work extended hours.
CT and MRI scans are now available from 7am to 9pm, three days a week. The Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, has told allDHBs that by 2016, 95 per cent of patients must receive MRI and CT scans within six weeks.
Wanganui Hospital's clinical manager of radiology, Lisa Brown, said Whanganui was among the leading DHBs for waiting times. Currently, 83.9 per cent of patients are getting their CT scans within six weeks, and 79.7 per cent of patients are getting MRI scans within six weeks.
Miss Brown said the figures were pleasing, as the DHB had been working hard to reduce waiting times. And she said it was the staff who had come up with the solution.
"Management went to the staff and asked for ideas on how to reduce waiting times. Staff offered to work longer hours so they could see more patients every day."
The extended hours are "really convenient for people who work because they can get a scan outside of working hours," Miss Brown said.
Because ACC patients benefit from the longer hours, ACC picked up the cost of the extended hours.
There had been a waiting list for MRI scans, but the backlog has now been worked through. Miss Brown said these scans - used to look at a patient's soft tissue - were problematic because it can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. A CT scan, which provides 3D imaging, can take just five minutes.
The hospital's radiology department has five staff working on CT scans and five working on MRI scans. There are 25 radiographers in total in the department.
The Government invested $16 million in the 2012 Budget over four years for faster diagnostic test wait times.
In some parts of the country, such as Dunedin, patients can wait up to 35 weeks for a non-urgent MRI.
