Waiting lists for elective surgery remain stubbornly high in the South but not as high as in many other parts of New Zealand, newly updated statistics show.
Over all specialties, just a-quarter of southerners are being seen for their first specialist appointment within the four-month target, and just under half of people who have been promised treatment within four months have actually received it.
Every health region in the country is rated "red" by the Ministry of Health for being well below target on its elective services patient flow indicators (ESPI) measure.
For ESPI2 (first specialist appointments), the South’s 25.2% performance ranked it eighth of 20 health regions; its ESPI5 (receiving treatment once promised it) performance of 47.2% ranked it above the national average of 39.5% and sixth in the country.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Southern has expressed regret about its lengthy waiting lists, an issue it ascribes to staff absences, staff shortages and high demand.
However, its relatively creditable performance when assessed against other health regions suggests that planner’s determination to continue delivering some level of elective surgery during the Omicron wave of Covid-19 has resulted in waiting lists which, while elevated beyond what is desirable, are not as severe as in other provinces.
Gynaecology services, which have been persistently high for several months and particularly so in Southland, remained a concern, as 61% of women did not receive a specialist appointment within the target time, and there was a 35.3% breach rate in treatment.
A 72% breach of treatment times for neurosurgery was the highest it has been for a year, while the breach rate for first specialist pain relief appointments had more than doubled, from 25% in January to 57% in August.
First specialist appointment breaches in the urology service, a part of the southern health system which has previously been investigated by the health and disability commissioner, have gradually crept up in recent months and had reached 12% by August; treatment time breaches have averaged about 30% this year.
On the plus side of the ledger cardiothoracic treatment, which Te Whatu Ora — Southern had targeted for improvement, was back in the yellow: from a treatment time breach rate of 52% earlier this year, it has been brought out of the red and down to 28.6%.
There had been a slight improvement in orthopaedic breaches, a service which makes up by far the largest number of cases on southern waiting lists.
As at the end of August the appointment breach rate was 30%, having been 38% at the start of year, while the treatment breach rate was 69%, a small improvement from 71% in May.
