Focus on colonoscopy wait time

Suzanne Hogg (left), Mark Sanders, Laura Mills with Rian Roberts, the first patient to benefit from the new endoscopy room. Photo / Supplied

A new endoscopy room at Whangarei Hospital will hopefully reduce the wait time for a colonoscopy, with 88 per cent of non-urgent patients not being seen in the recommended time frame.

At the end of March 1000 people in Northland were on the wait list for a colonoscopy. That was reduced to 600 by the end of May after a significant push from the health board. The second endoscopy room, in a vacated oncology space, was modified at a cost of $100,000 and opened earlier this month.

Northland District Health Board (NDHB) general manager clinical services Andrew Potts said any investigation that potentially involved cancer was a very anxious time for patients.

"If we can make sure that these investigations can be done within a month it is much better for our patients, which is what we are all about," he said.

Mr Potts expected the second endoscopy room would mean patients would not be waiting more than a month by the end of October. The wait times climbed because of capacity constraints and specialist vacancies, he said.

Colonoscopy was a test that allowed the doctor to look at the inner lining of a patient's large intestine (rectum and colon). A colonoscopy helps find ulcers, colon polyps, tumours, and areas of inflammation or bleeding.

Urgent colonoscopy patients were supposed to be seen within two weeks, though only 43 per cent were seen in that time so far this year. However, 80 per cent were seen within two weeks in May, 5 per cent above the target.

Patients referred for a surveillance colonoscopy, people who are more at risk of colorectal cancer, were supposed to be seen within 12 weeks. So far this year 46 per cent of people were seen in that time frame. The results for May were more positive, with 62 per cent seen within 12 weeks, against a target of 65 per cent.

In an effort to cut down the wait time over the past couple of months, the DHB had referred 20 patients a week for colonoscopies at Rodney Surgical Centre, sent Whangarei patients to Kaitaia, and started using the newest CT scanner for colonoscopies for low-risk patients.