NZ slow to treat heart patients

Heart patients are waiting too long for treatment in parts of New Zealand, Health Minister Tony Ryall says.

Ryall yesterday responded to a study published in The New Zealand Medical Journal that said little had changed in the treatment of heart patients between 2002 and 2007.

It found there were still low levels of investigation, treatment and revascularisation – removing blockages to allow bloodflow to the heart – undertaken for New Zealand acute heart patients compared with other countries.

The use of coronary angiography and balloon angioplasty – used to open narrow heart arteries – had increased in New Zealand, but neither was used as frequently as in Australia, Europe or the United States.

Patients at smaller hospitals experienced the longest treatment delays, the study said.

Ryall said heart patients in the central North Island had the worst access to treatment.

"We want to see patients needing angiography services getting them within 72 hours," he said.

"They're currently waiting up to five days in some parts of the region. I have written to every district health board about the issue, and outlined the plan which has been developed by clinicians."

A National Cardiac Clinical Network set up last year was focusing on reducing cardiac surgery waiting lists and improving the treatment of patients arriving in hospital with chest pain, he said.

A report on the health of developed nations released this year showed 50 per cent more Kiwis died of heart attacks each year than in comparable countries.

Sixty-three New Zealanders per 100,000 die of heart attacks every year, compared with an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 44.

- © Fairfax NZ News