Specialist treatment waiting lists grow

WAITING lists in the South have grown over the winter months, new figures show.

Gynaecology, which has had problems maintaining a service in Southland for several months, on June 30 had a list of 1097 people awaiting a first specialist appointment.

Of those, 667 were Southland women, and a total of 704 women had waited longer than the threemonth target set by the Ministry of Health, up from 682 in April.

Ophthalmology and urology, specialties which the former Southern District Health Board made considerable efforts to improve wait times for following several highly critical reports, again have a rising number of people who have waited too long for an appointment.

Ophthalmology’s April breach figure of 41 people is up slightly, at 49, and its wait list is 628 people overall.

Urology had just 12 people in breach at the end of April, but that figure is now 25 and its wait list is 407 people.

Other specialties with substantial first appointment wait lists were ear, nose and throat (676), general surgery (492) and neurology (426).

People on the orthopaedic waiting list for a first specialist appointment (ESPI2) who had waited more than three months has improved, from 302 in April to 244. The overall waiting list for orthopaedic first appointments was 672 people.

Health planners watch ESPI2 breaches closely as they often turn into ESPI5 breaches — people waiting longer than recommended to receive treatment.

Te Whatu OraSouthern (TWOSouthern) deputy chief operating officer Simon Donlevy said Covid19 and winter ailments had put major pressure on staff availability.

‘‘We have had significant staff absences during this time, which has reduced our capacity in the hospital, alongside a significant acute demand on hospital services,’’ he said.

‘‘We have prioritised acute care in our hospitals, which has reduced the amount of planned care that we have been able to deliver, but this has unfortunately had a detrimental effect on our waiting lists.’’

However, the organisation’s efforts to maintain some level of elective surgery despite the impact of winter ailments and Covid19 on both clinicians and patients have been rewarded with falls in most specialties in the number of patients who have waited longer that the recommended three months to have a procedure after being given a promise to treat.

Although 2251 people from an overall waiting list of 4064 people have endured a wait of more than three months, that is down from 2813 people as at the end of April.

As well as trying to maintain some level of elective surgery, TWOSouthern has also outsourced several procedures to private healthcare providers, particularly orthopaedic procedures.

That specialty had 813 people in breach of waiting times in June, down from 1054 in April, but still had an overall waiting list of 1146 people.

Ear, nose and throat had 506 people in breach (down from 545), opthalmology had 240 (down from 333) and general surgery had 217 (down from 261).

While there has been progress, the Southern region remains in the Ministry of Health’s ‘‘red’’ warning category for ESPI breaches.