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A Dunedin woman with a potentially terminal neurological condition was outraged after being asked to wait almost nine months for an MRI scan.
Sophie Barker had a long-standing brain issue and has undergone three lots of neurosurgery.
Last time Ms Barker was referred for an MRI she baulked at the six-month waiting time she was given and went to Australia -where she was scanned and operated on within two weeks.
With her condition potentially flaring up again, her GP recently referred Ms Barker for an MRI scan.
Ms Barker said she was shocked when she received a letter from the Southern District Health Board saying this time the wait for a scan would be 34 weeks.
"It’s incredibly stressful ... It’s really tough when people have to wait that long," she said.
"We pay our taxes so we have a great healthcare system, and when we’re waiting that long it’s not a great healthcare system."
Ms Barker is not alone in having to wait months for an MRI scan.
The SDHB has a Ministry of Health imposed target of having 85% of patients referred for an MRI scan to have a report distributed within 42 days. However, it falls far short of that mark.
A report presented to the most recent hospital advisory committee meeting showed in the September quarter just 28.28% of reports were distributed within 42 days, rising to 33.2% in the December quarter.
The report said it was "clear additional capacity must be provided" and staff were proposing weekend sessions be staged in a bid to reduce waiting lists.Long delays for MRI scans are concerning GPs, who say patients are waiting too long to have essential tests done.
"The college is aware of long wait times in many areas of the country for MRI tests," College of GPs medical director Richard Medlicott said.
"We welcome any initiatives to reduce those waiting times. GPs have very poor access to ordering MRIs, where the need in the community can be great.
"A 34-week wait time is longer than the average time waited by patients in the past 12 months," SDHB specialist services director Patrick Ng said.
"Unfortunately, due to the high numbers of high-acuity patients currently being referred to MRI at both sites, many of those assessed as being of lower clinical acuity are having to wait longer than the Ministry of Health target."
The SDHB was still exploring options to reduce MRI scan wait times, Mr Ng said.
"We need to put robust systems in place to ensure that once the wait times are reduced, they remain reduced," he said.
"The reduction in wait times is likely to be achieved through a combination of demand management and capacity improvement measures."
Dr Nigel Thompson, of Green Island Medical Centre, said he was aware of the situation.
"Indeed some of my own patients are experiencing very long wait times."
He hoped the SDHB’s primary health-care strategy, now going through public consultation, would help alleviate some of the MRI scan waiting list issues.