Mrs Vining said the numbers were so disappointing and showed all the hard work done in the past few years had come to nothing as we were "right back to where we started".
In the latest quarterly health targets announced by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, the southern area was sitting second last for faster cancer treatment. The southern area was sitting on 80.6% reaching the target of patients receiving cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat.
The target was 87% by the middle of next year and 90% by 2030.
Mrs Vining said she had been speaking to patients who were getting letters advising them of an eight-week wait for medical oncology.
"So we are right back to where we started with," she said.
"So yeah, it's pretty disheartening, and if you think it's, for us, it's six Christmases without Blair coming up, and waiting lists are eight weeks again for medical oncology."
Last week, a Ministry of Health report said cancer diagnoses would likely double over the next two decades. Health Minister Simeon Brown said the increase was not a cause for panic and much of it was down to the ageing population and general population growth.
Mrs Vining said the country could not even look after the people it had now.
"How on earth are we going to be looking after double the number?"
She said it was a workforce issue, where there was just not enough staff.
"To see those patients on time, they need more workforce, and obviously this government and successive governments do not do appropriate workforce planning."
She said overseas there were innovative ways to overcome waiting lists but successive New Zealand governments did not do the appropriate workforce planning to make a difference.
"I just wish that all of the successive governments, and this one, would just be honest about the problem, and get that workforce planning sorted. Because that's how we can ensure everyone receives equitable care and outcomes, not just those with money, or those that live in Auckland.
"It physically hurts my heart. Like I cried when I found out those wait lists were back up to eight weeks, because I know the distress for the families who are waiting on those lists, because their cancer could be growing, their cancer could be worse."
The bottom four areas in the table for faster cancer treatments all come from the South Island. South Canterbury was bottom having dropped nearly 10% from the previous quarter. West Coast was third-bottom and Canterbury was just ahead of it.
Health NZ southern chief medical officer David Gow said HNZ was committed to delivering timely access to cancer care for patients in the Southern district and right across Te Waipounamu.
"Cancer treatment is critical, and every day counts. Our 2030 goal is to ensure 90% of cancer patients start their treatment within 31 days of deciding on a treatment plan," he said.
He said while Southern’s faster cancer treatment performance this quarter was 2.9% lower than the previous quarter at 80.6%, this change was relatively small in volume — it equated to about four patients over that three-month period.
Southern was prioritising key initiatives to address long-standing capacity challenges across several specialty areas including where there were specific workforce vacancies that impacted its performance. It was also implementing weekly clinical and operational processes to develop individualised plans for the district’s longest-wait patients, Mr Gow said.
HNZ was developing a regional tracking dashboard to identify patients on day 20 of the 31-day pathway that either did not have a treatment date booked or were booked for a date beyond 31 days.
