Bagshaw ‘vindicated’ by colonoscopy report
A new report concludes that the Southern District Health Board is using national referral guidelines incorrectly, resulting in fewer patients making it onto colonoscopy waiting lists.
The report, written by former Medical Council chairman Andrew Connolly, found the Southern DHB was using Ministry of Health national guidelines to ration specialists’ cases.
In August last year, six surgeons wrote an open letter saying it was disheartening that the SDHB was still asking them to apply criteria to colonoscopy access, even after a patient has been seen by a gastrointestinal specialist surgeon.
A recommendation in Connolly’s report is for the SDHB to now allow specialists to book patients for colonoscopies or endoscopies without having to meet the guideline criteria.
Another recommendation is for the SDHB to consider a business case for resourcing greater access to the Dunedin Hospital endoscopy suite.
Canterbury Charity Hospital founder Dr Phil Bagshaw and his colleague Dr Steven Ding completed an external audit of the SDHB colonoscopy services and bowel cancer treatment times in July last year.
It was a damning report that said there were lengthy delays for patients needing a colonoscopy, a state of inter-service warfare, and stressed clinicians in need of trauma counselling.
Bagshaw said he felt vindicated by Connolly’s report but it was unlikely to change anything.
He believed that dysfunctional relationships between clinicians remained an issue in the department and unless the SDHB employed external help to fix it, the problems would remain.
‘‘History has shown that they need help. That help has to come from outside,’’ he said.
Southland surgeon Murray Pfeifer, who was one of the doctors who signed the open letter, said he supported the recommendations in Connolly’s report.
‘‘I want to see patients, who present with colorectal symptoms, have free and easy access to colonoscopies,’’ Pfeifer said.
SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming has given deputy chief medical officer Tim Mackay until March 31 to draft an action plan that ensures Connolly’s recommendations are implemented.
Fleming was not available to speak to The Southland Times yesterday.
In a letter addressed to hospital staff on January 31, Fleming acknowledged that relationship issues had affected the way the health board’s services were working together to the point that it had impacted delivery times.
In a letter accompanying his report, Connolly said nobody he spoke to during his investigation raised concerns about the quality of endoscopy services.
‘‘This is a credit to all the staff involved,’’ he said.