Cancer wait lists ‘criminal’

A radiation oncologist says it’s ‘‘criminal’’ to ask patients to wait two months to find out the extent of their cancer.

Dr Lyndell Kelly was speaking at a Southern District Health Board hospital advisory committee meeting yesterday, during a discussion about diagnostic imaging backlogs and wait times for cancer care.

She was specifically referring to the preferred process for PET scans, which are imaging tests that allow doctors to check for diseases in the body and are centralised in Christchurch because of the cost of equipment.

Patients need a computerised tomography (CT) scan in Southland or Otago, before being sent to Christchurch for their PET scans, but the backlogs for these scans are growing.

The committee reviewed a draft version of the board’s new radiation strategy, which is intended to address the delays.

The wait list to see a radiation oncologist had jumped to 157 patients last week – against the health board’s ideal wait list of 70, representing a month’s work, Kelly said.

‘‘[This is] the highest it’s ever been. Our wait list is the worst in the country,’’ Kelly said, adding that at some point, staff would need to take leave.

A report from the SDHB’s executive director of specialist services, Patrick Ng, showed that the board was struggling to meet faster cancer treatment targets set by the Ministry of Health.

While it did not provide the number of patients referred for cancer treatment, it showed that 75.53 per cent of those already diagnosed had received treatment within 31 days in the past quarter, against a target of 85 per cent – and down from 84 per cent in the previous quarter.

Patients referred urgently with a high suspicion of cancer should receive their first treatment within 62 days, according to the ministry. However, Ng’s report showed this only happened for 48.39 per cent of patients in the past quarter – which was a significant drop from 64.95 per cent in the previous quarter.

Some patients were waiting 62 days for their first specialist appointments, Kelly said. ‘‘It’s something shameful that we’re in this situation, and I’m glad that it is being taken seriously now,’’ she told the committee.

Ng said a brief data analysis showed that access to MRI and CT scans was a large part of the backlog. The Southern DHB would also need to employ a sixth radiation oncologist to keep up, he said, but as recruitment was especially difficult, the board would look for a locum in the interim.

He said he hoped the transTasman travel bubble would make recruiting from Australia easier.

The board had outsourced 10 first specialist appointments in the past year. But at $15,000 plus travel expenses per appointment, this wasn’t a sustainable option, Ng said.

The scope of the draft radiation strategy presented to the committee was to improve access to CT and MRI medical imaging at Dunedin hospital. Future versions will consider collaboration with primary and rural providers, adding services such as PET scans and preparing for future demand, the document says.

It identifies an additional MRI scanner for Dunedin Hospital as the most immediate need.

A business case for the new scanner was expected in December, but SDHB chairman Pete Hodgson called the wait ‘‘intolerable’’. ‘‘If it’s evident that a second MRI machine is needed, then buy the thing,’’ he said.

‘‘[This is] the highest it’s ever been. Our wait list is the worst in the country.’’

Dr Lyndell Kelly