Canterbury DHB failing to meet demand

new-zealand-national-party

Wed Mar 29 2006 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Canterbury DHB failing to meet demand

Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 2:25 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Dr Jackie Blue National Party Associate Health Spokeswoman

29 March 2006

Canterbury District Health Board is failing to meet the expectations and demands of the people in its region, says National Party Associate Health spokeswoman Dr Jackie Blue.

Canterbury DHB chief executive Gordon Davies told Parliament's health select committee today that 8,000 patients were dumped from waiting lists last year because there was no hope that they could be seen by specialists.

"Mr Davies also said it was his expectation that patients across the board are now sicker before they meet the criteria to have their operations," says Dr Blue.

"As of January this year, there were almost 2,000 people who had met the criteria for surgery but were still waiting after six months. This figure included 69 cardiothoracic and 646 orthopaedic patients.

"At the other end of the spectrum, the DHB is underperforming when compared with other DHBs in basic operations such as hernia, cataract, tubal ligation and gall bladder operations," says Dr Blue.

ENDS

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