'Data issues' behind rating drop

Suspected data issues are to blame for low smoking rates in the Bay of Plenty.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board says data collection issues - not a drop in services - has resulted in it being rated the lowest in the country at offering support to help smokers quit.

The DHB's performance rating for the Ministry of Health's Better Help for Smokers to Quit target in the July to September quarter was just 68 per cent - well below the national DHB average of 83per cent.

"Data collection issues" - not a drop in services - are behind the low rating, said the health board's planning and funding general manager Simon Everitt.

"There has been no drop in the practical level of support and advice provided to smokers, they are still receiving the same level of care which placed the DHB second in the country just three months ago so we need to determine what has happened with data collection to cause this anomaly," he said.

"[Prior to the quarter] it had shown sustained improvement brought about through system modifications which ensured each smoking patient was given advice and support to quit smoking for their overall health and recovery."

Bay of Plenty's 2015 Maori Health Profile reported 36 per cent of Maori adults in the Bay of Plenty and 15 per cent of non-Maori were regular smokers.

The health board was also rated below national averages for providing "more heart and diabetes checks" and "increased immunisation" in the last quarter.

Its performance was higher than average for faster cancer treatment, improved access to elective surgery and shorter stays in emergency departments.

"In other health targets, the [DHB's] performance has been maintained in the 'shorter stay in emergency departments' target (95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours) for a third successive quarter at 94 per cent despite ever-increasing numbers of people presenting," Mr Everitt said.

"In the 'improved access to elective surgery' target, patients are experiencing shorter waits for operations as the [DHB] continues to exceed its contracted surgery volumes.

"We again performed more than our contracted volumes of elective surgery in the July-September quarter which has enabled us to reduce the amount of time people wait for their operations."

For more details visit: www.health.govt.nz/healthtargets