Patients wait months for an MRI
On bad days, Ken Morris’ back pain is ‘‘bloody awful’’.
Morris, an auto-electrician, fell off a dining chair on September 20 last year and reawoke old back problems that were operated on more than four years ago.
He was referred to Capital & Coast District Health Board’s (CCDHB) radiology department for an MRI scan on November 6. He’s still in the queue, with no date in sight.
Because Morris’ case is not deemed life-threatening, and he’s still able to work, Capital and Coast DHB put a ‘‘routine’’, or nonurgent, priority on his scan.
As he waits, Morris is trying to manage the pain himself, with the help of his GP. He was prescribed diazepam twice a day. ‘‘Within the first two days of taking two a day, I nearly went to sleep at the wheel on two occasions.’’
Morris’ case isn’t unusual. In February, average waiting times for routine MRI scans were around five months for non-urgent MRIs, CCDHB said.
The Ministry of Health target requires DHBs to scan 85 per cent of patients referred for non-urgent MRIs within six weeks.
CCDHB interim chief executive Ashley Bloomfield said a big increase in demand and staffing challenges were adding to waiting times – and other DHBs had the same problem.
Demand for MRI and CT scans was growing at about 15 per cent every year, and ‘‘you simply can’t free up that space’’, he said. ‘‘Even if we deal with this waiting list, it will keep going up if we don’t adress that demand.’’
CCDHB had 1.7 fulltime radiologist vacancies from a team of 18 full-time positions, and 4.4 vacancies for radiographers and sonographers, from a team of 65.6 fulltime roles.
But at a board meeting on Wednesday, Bloomfield laid bare the extent of this ‘‘nationwide problem’’ of radiologist shortages.
‘‘There are DHBs around the country that are really stretched. We really need to shift gear in terms of responding to this as a country.’’
Bloomfield is also chief executive of Hutt Valley DHB, which he said was down three fulltime radiologists, although wait times were much better – about a month for a non-urgent MRI scans, and roughly three weeks for CT scans.
Both the machines at Wellington Regional Hospital were new last year, and meant to halve waiting times.
Instead, just 20 per cent of nonurgent referrals met the ministry’s target in January, and 30 per cent in February, Bloomfield said.
Several DHBs had ‘‘a significant number of vacancies,’’ for radiologists, he said. ‘‘Waikato DHB is down 12 radiologists.’’
Acting Waikato DHB chief executive Derek Wright said there was ‘‘kind of worldwide problem’’ in growing demand for MRI scans.
‘‘As technology has developed and we become more sophisticated, you can now do more things with radiology, so the demand grows.’’
The number of radiologists in New Zealand has almost doubled since 2006, from 255 to 478 in 2017, according to Health Workforce New Zealand (HWNZ), which is a team within the ministry.
Radiologists hadn’t been flagged as a vulnerable workforce but ‘‘we know things may change’’, HWNZ group manager Claire Austin said.
The ministry was aware there was a high turnover in the profession, especially among those newly qualified. ‘‘We’re looking at how we can better retain our key health professionals across a range of health provider types.’’
Tackling the problem in Wellington meant looking at whether the DHB could afford to run its MRI machines after-hours and at weekends, Bloomfield said.
A radiology demand-management group has been set up and will meet fortnightly to pinpoint and plan for increased demand. ‘‘In the interim, we are continuing to outsource some [scans] to private’’ to cut the backlog, ,’’ her report to the board said.