Oncology stats still concerning

The Southern District Health Board’s oncology statistics remain a concern but have improved.

Cancer-related waiting lists reached crisis point earlier this year, when 160 patients were overdue for radiation oncology treatment and waiting lists for diagnosis and other treatments were also lengthy.

A report to the board this week said the radiation oncology waiting list had halved to about 80 people, and other waiting times were much more satisfactory.

The board is still sending patients to Christchurch and Wellington to try to minimise demand on its linear accelerator machines.

Chief executive Chris Fleming told a board meeting yesterday that senior staff met regularly with the Cancer Control Agency, which has been closely monitoring the SDHB’s performance in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

‘‘They concur that oncology has moved from a very bright red and being a major problem, and it is now very clearly orange.

‘‘The waiting times have dropped back, although there is still further to go ... The problem hasn’t gone away but the journey we have been going on is paying dividends and we are getting there.’’

Board member Lyndell Kelly, an oncologist, agreed progress had been made but said there were still serious issues of concern.

‘‘With medical oncology and haematology we have done very well with recruiting and we have two extra new radiation oncology registrars starting in February,’’ she said.

‘‘But we have not been able to recruit a sixth radiation oncologist and this is a major problem because we cannot continue to pay for outsourcing forever.’’

Outsourcing had had a positive effect on waiting lists but the SDHB needed to hire its own clinicians or it would have a major problem, she said.

Mr Fleming said the problem Dr Kelly had identified was exactly why oncology was still posted as being an ‘‘orange’’ risk for the SDHB.

‘‘The big reason why it was red was about patient safety. A lot of that has gone away, but you are quite right that we have paid to have it taken away through outsourcing.’’

The SDHB was waiting for a study it had commissioned from Ernst & Young to assess if Southern’s cancer treatment services were under-resourced compared with other regions, he said.

He hoped the report would be ready in time for the board to consider it next month.

mike.houlahan@odt.co.nz