Revamp brings more surgery

Elective surgery numbers from Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) have jumped thanks to a new scheme.

This time last year, it had done 77 orthopaedic operations and this year the total is 99.

"To meet the needs of the people of Hawke's Bay, we realised we had to do more with our resources - our theatres, nurses and surgeons," chief medical officer John Gommans said.

The answer was Operation Productivity which started last year. It seeks to increase efficiencies using suggestions from staff and outside consultant Francis Group.

Clinical director of surgical services John Rose said the increase in surgeries reflected the effort put into the programme.

Perioperative manager Anna Harland said: "We've had really good engagement from all the disciplines on how we can make things tick a little bit better."

Dr Gommans said in the past theatres delivered what was expected but now sought to over-deliver, to try to keep pace with increasing demand.

He said Hawke's Bay's ageing population needed more surgeries. Increased surgical skill and technology meant more could be helped.

People who would have been declined for surgery 10 years ago were now medically eligible.

Increased capability meant fewer were sent to larger hospitals.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said: "These improvements are a credit to the hard-working health professionals in Hawke's Bay."

In the financial year to June 2015, he said 28 per cent more people (6154) received surgery than in 2008 (4825).

"This Government inherited a wasteful and inefficient system, which did not deliver what New Zealanders required," he said.

But Labour's health spokeswoman Annette King said the minister was cherry-picking statistics.

"He takes his base as low as he can and claims great success. I think he is being devious," she said.

Ministry of Health figures showed HBDHB did less elective surgery in the 2014 calendar year than it did in 2013 - 6276 compared with 6384 - a drop of 108 operations.