Less ‘cancer bingo’ played

Christchurch Hospital surgeons are starting to get through the backlog of people waiting on surgeries after last year’s anaesthetic technician shortage saw lists slashed.

That is in part thanks to the Canterbury Charity Hospital donating its theatres to the public system for minor surgeries.

Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora’s lastest quarterly performance report, which covered October 1 to December 31, showed Canterbury’s list of people waiting more than a year for surgery had gone down. However, the number waiting more than four months to see a specialist, a key health target, has grown from about 6000 to nearly 7000.

That mirrored the national situation. Christchurch Hospital colorectal and general surgeon Dr Christopher Wakeman said things were a lot better than six months ago.

Fewer surgery lists were being cancelled as locum workers plugged the anaesthetic technician staff shortage. “We’re not playing cancer bingo as much as we did previously when we had to choose, amongst ourselves, which cancer got done – so that is better.”

Wakeman said resignations in the department had slowed and management had been working to improve the “toxic” culture.

New surgeons were using the charity hospital’s theatres to carry out more minor surgeries like haemorrhoids and hernias, he said. Those needing more complicated surgeries that required longer hospital stays remained on the lists. “Cancer is still trumping them.”

The charity hospital, founded by Dr Phil Bagshaw, sees patients not seen by the public system, providing a range of free surgical, medical, dental and counseling services.

Reports of sexual assault at schools and tertiary institutes are rising year on year, with Canterbury police collecting the most – but experts say it may not mean a real terms increase.

Last year, 245 people reported being sexually assaulted at a place of education in New Zealand, a near 50% increase from 2019’s 166 reports, police data shows.

Of 1741 reported sexual assaults at educational locations between 2015 and 2023, 12.9% occurred within Canterbury’s police boundary – more than any other boundary.

Over 90% of the 1741 sexual assaults were aggravated, meaning either a weapon was used,injuryinflicted,sexualintercourseoccurred, the victim was a child, or multiple offenders were involved. Secondary schools and universities are a hotspot for sexual assault, HELP director Kathryn McPhillips said, and the main danger is from fellow students.

“The risks become socialising with your peers, rather than when you;re younger it’s somebody older than you.”

However, McPhillips noted a rise in reports could be positive, as the trend could reflect historical under-reporting rather than more assaults occuring.

Ministry of Justice crime and victim surveys from 2017 to 2022 show that less than one in ten victims report being sexually assaulted.

“There are messages in society telling people its safer to report, so we would expect that would be at least a part of that increase,” McPhillips pointed out.

The #MeToo movement, damning secondary school surveys, and survivors speaking out is empowering victims, she said.

Two university-aged sexual assault victims told The Press their experiences four months ago. Both were assaulted by their peers and one incident occurred in a university hall.

Jo Bader, the client services manager from Aviva – which supports victims of family and sexual violence – said sexual assault has “always been happening at really high rates”. “It can look alarming when you see these [report] numbers but this means people are seeking help.” The historical “huge amount of under-reporting” led other sexual harm services she conversed with to “universally” view Canterbury’s high reporting positively. “People are talking about it more – they’re reporting it, they’re calling it out when it happens, and they’re saying ‘I’m not going to put up with this’.”

She noted “high profile cases” in Canterbury, like the Mama Hooch rapists, had increased awareness of sexual crimes, which usually increases reporting.

To reduce sexual assault, responsibility needs to be shifted from victims to offenders, reporting needs to be “demystified”, and consent education improved, Bader said. Most universities have “robust plans” combating sexual assault, like University of Canterbury’s (UC) sexual prevention lead, which other institutes could look to, she said. “This problem that is endemic in our country... it’s actually solvable, completely solvable. We absolutely don’t have to accept this as our lot.”

UC executive director of people, culture and campus life Paul O'Flaherty said the university “will not tolerate any form of harassment or harmful behaviour.”

The university wants students to feel “safe and supported”, and encourages victims of harmful incidents to contact UC’s support services, O’Flaherty said.

The uni’s student association encourages victims to speak out and takes all complaints seriously, University of Canterbury Students’ Association president Luc MacKay said.

A 2019 study revealed one third of 2700 university students across the country had been sexually assaulted.

A 2022 survey found 70% of Avonside Girls’ High School students had been sexually harassed, and 21 had been raped or nearraped. Christchurch Girls’ High School students reported 50% harassment and 20 rapes the year before.

Despite experts recommending an emphasis on consent education, the government has planned to axe it as part of a coalition agreement between National and NZ First.

Removing consent education concerned McPhillips and Bader, alongside Avonside Girl’s principal Catherine Law.

“The reason that [sexual assault] comes into educational institutions is because those young people come in with that way of thinking about power in a relationship,” Law said.

“Until it’s required that all schools teach it you’re not going to be sure that everybody has been exposed to it.”

However, responsibility couldn’t be placed on schools alone as sexual assault was a societal issue, she said.

Detective Inspector Dave Kirby, national manager of child protection and adult sexual assault, said over 7000 sexual assaults are reported to police each year in New Zealand.

About 40% of the reports come from people aged 10 to 19 years, Kirby added.

He said police saw an overall 15% increase in sexual assault reports from 2018 to 2023 and this could be attributed to better services available to victims.

“It is concerning to receive any report of sexual offending, whether it be at an educational institute, workplace, or in any other setting, private or public.

“All sexual assaults are important to police.”