Family doctors across Otago and Southland have been asked to only refer patients with urgent conditions to Southern District Health Board's ear nose and throat (ENT) department, as the short-staffed specialty tries to shorten its waiting list.
At the end of October, the board had 291 ENT patients, many from Southland, who had been waiting longer than six months for their first specialist appointment.
December's board meeting was told an extensive plan had been developed to deal with the backlog, including weekend clinics in Southland and 22 clinics run by senior registrars this month.
Acting chief operating officer (Southland) Leanne Samuel said Dunedin staff had been giving extra support to the Southland site for between six months and a year.
Southland Hospital was trying to appoint a permanent specialist to replace someone who had retired, but it was an "ongoing challenge".
Mrs Samuel said urgent referrals would include cancer patients and conditions such as serious infections.
Examples of conditions that would not be seen by a specialist at this stage were glue ear and sinus conditions. General practitioners would be asked to manage these, in the meantime.
In the newsletter to general practitioners, the board says the ENT department is adapting its service in order to provide equality of access to services across the whole district.
Once this was achieved and the existing waiting lists had been reduced, "we will again be in a position to consider accepting semi-urgent referrals".
