KEY POINTS:
Hundreds of patients with symptoms suggestive of potentially deadly bowel cancer are waiting months longer than they should for diagnostic tests.
A survey out today suggests more than 800 patients were waiting for tests two years ago and a leading health official was yesterday unable to produce figures to show any improvement since.
"Anecdotally there are still issues around delays," said the Ministry of Health's principal adviser for cancer control, Dr John Childs.
Early treatment for cancer can reduce the death rate.
The survey in the New Zealand Medical Journal found that 828 patients with symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer - such as rectal bleeding and altered bowel habit - had been waiting for more than six months for colonoscopy testing at public hospitals. Under national guidelines, they should have been tested within eight weeks.
Colonoscopy is investigation of the lower intestine with a surgical tube fitted with a tiny video camera and instruments for removing both potentially precancerous polyps and test samples of any cancers.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of colorectal cancer in the world. Around 2600 people are diagnosed each year and it kills about 1100.
Surgeons are angered by the Government's slow pace in setting up a mass screening programme for bowel cancer - which would mirror the programmes for cervical and breast screening - after overseas studies found they save lives, reducing bowel cancer mortality by 12 to 15 per cent.
"They've been talking about it for 10 years so far. They should make a commitment and get on with it," Professor Frank Frizelle, a Christchurch surgeon and the chairman of the colorectal section of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, said last night.
Australia set up a screening programme 18 months ago.
Dr Childs said the ministry was now designing a feasibility study which could be running in 12 to 18 months.
It would test the uptake and acceptability of a programme based on an initial test that requires people to collect their own faecal samples in special containers to be analysed for the presence of blood.
The survey found major delays both among those with suggestive cancer symptoms and those referred for colonoscopy because of an increased risk of bowel cancer, including people with a family history of the disease.
The main reason for the delays was shortages of nurses and specialist doctors.
Eradicating the delays is expected to require increasing the number of colonoscopies by at least 25 per cent a year. Adding this to the extra demand for testing generated by a screening programme indicates national capacity would need to nearly double.
Cancer Debate
* Around 2600 people a year in New Zealand are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which kills about 1100 annually.
* Overseas studies have found screening can cut the death rate by 12-15 per cent.
* Mass screening in New Zealand would overwhelm already-stretched diagnostic services unless they were massively expanded.
