
The new hire will bring the total number of radiation oncologists to three. However, this is still barely a third of the budgeted number of 8.8 fulltime equivalent staff.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) Southern Group director of operations Hamish Brown said recruitment efforts to hire at least three more permanent radiation oncologists would continue.
"A new radiation oncologist will be starting in February, which is exciting news," he said earlier this week.
Remaining staff vacancies were managed with support from international locums and longer-term telehealth support from other parts of the country.
"This means patients are now all being treated locally and the service has become less reliant on patients being referred to private treatment facilities or travelling out of the district for treatment."
This is a turnaround for the organisation, which became increasingly reliant on outsourcing for prostate and breast cancer patients last year as the number the numbers radiation oncologists dropped to two.
HNZ acknowledged the "ongoing vulnerability" of its senior medical officer workforce, Mr Brown said.
The 8.8FTE budgeted roles included non-clinical administration time, and clinical director time.
Also staffing the department were 29 radiation therapists, almost a full contingent, although another 2.2FTE still needed to be recruited.
In May and June last year, there were just three permanent radiation oncologists, a number that dropped to two later in the year.
An Official Information Act request revealed outsourcing between January-October 2023 had jumped compared with all of 2022, in order to reduce wait times amid the shortage.
The number of Southern prostate cancer patients sent to another healthcare facility for treatment nearly quadrupled, from 12 to 46. For breast cancer patients, the number tripled, from 11 to 33.