Neurosurgery patients forced to wait too long

One in 10 patients referred to Christchurch Hospital for a neurosurgery assessment is waiting longer than recommended to see a specialist.

Documents made public by the Canterbury District Health Board this week reveal that it has fallen behind Ministry of Health neurosurgery targets for the third month in a row. The backlog of patients has more than doubled during this period.

In May, 24 elective patients waited longer than six months for their first assessment by a specialist, with 43 waiting in June and 64 in July.

Under ministry rules, 12 patients can fall outside the six-month target. Another 52 patients would need to have been seen in July to comply. About 600 patients, mostly from Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough, the West Coast and South Canterbury, are seen each year.

Christchurch Hospital operations manager Ruth Barclay said the "little blip" was due to a higher number of acute neurosurgery cases, which diverted resources to surgery and outpatient follow-ups. The department was also helping Otago District Health Board patients while the board tried to fill a neurosurgeon vacancy.

Otago board group manager Dr Colleen Coop said its neurosurgery department had been coping with a vacancy since January, but this had only resulted in about two or three patients being sent to Christchurch Hospital.

Most of the 64 patients waiting longer than six months were referred by their GPs for carpal tunnel operations a day-surgery procedure, Barclay said.

Thirty now had an appointment.

The situation has prompted the Canterbury board to ask one of its three neurosurgeons to run evening clinics to clear the backlog this month.

"We've only got the three neurosurgeons and they have a huge workload already," Barclay said.

Coop said the Otago board was expecting another neurosurgeon to start work in September.

- © Fairfax NZ News