Lengthy Waits for Surgery keeps Increasing in New Zealand
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Loading... - Liselotte Winkler
- 09 Aug 2024
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Patients are currently enduring months-long wait times for elective surgeries, with some opting to go private and spending thousands of dollars to receive treatment more promptly. The healthcare system is under significant strain, with staff shortages and burnout being major concerns. This has resulted in patients suffering through extended periods of pain as they await diagnoses or surgeries.
Despite the coalition government's targets to reduce these wait times, funding to the health sector has been cut, exacerbating the situation. Professor Lester Levy, who took over as the commissioner of Health New Zealand, emphasized that reducing wait times was a top priority for him. However, he was shocked to discover the financial state of the agency was worse than anticipated. "New Zealanders are waiting too long," he stated during an interview with Nine to Noon. "In my view, the safest wait is the shortest wait, and we've got a big challenge to get those waiting times down."
Te Whatu Ora, in response, mentioned that efforts are underway to address these delays, noting that 10 percent more elective surgeries were performed in the year ending May 2024 compared to the previous year. However, the agency’s quarterly performance report from July revealed a troubling trend: nearly 77,755 patients, or 40.2 percent, had waited longer than four months for their first specialist appointment, up from 68,179 (36.5 percent) in the previous quarter.
Jo Gibbs, director of the hospital and specialist services delivery unit, pointed out that the growing demand is driven by an aging population, increasingly complex medical issues, and advances in available treatments due to new technology. She confirmed that the second phase of a project aimed at improving communication about surgery wait times with patients and GPs is in progress.
In the first phase, earlier this year, letters were sent to over 25,000 patients who had been waiting more than 120 days for their first specialist assessment across four key specialties: general surgery, ophthalmology, gynaecology, and orthopaedics.
