Delays put heart surgery in crisis

By FRANCESCA MOLD health reporter

More than 130 heart patients have to wait even longer for life-saving surgery while officials haggle over fine print in a contract for new Government cash.

Green Lane Hospital revealed last week that 137 patients with potentially life-threatening conditions had been forced to wait longer than the recommended six months for bypass surgery. Some patients with urgent conditions, who would usually have an operation within two weeks, have also had to wait beyond the recommended time.

Doctors say the situation has reached a crisis as the number of patients caught up in the backlog reached four times as many as last year.

The Health Funding Authority told the Herald yesterday that it had found the money to blitz the surgical waiting list but was waiting for the deal to be signed by Auckland Healthcare.

It did not want to reveal any details of the agreement without Auckland Healthcare's approval because it was afraid of damaging its relationship with the hospital and health service.

Auckland Healthcare said it needed more time to work through the offer but expected to make an announcement today.

The Herald understands part of the contract wrangle involves the inclusion of an agreement between the hospital and health funders about how the surgical bottleneck developed.

Senior medical sources said the number of operations paid for by the Government in the past few years has not been enough to keep up with the demand.

Doctors are adamant this fact must be made clear so the crisis is not treated as a one-off event. They say those providing the money must ensure the situation is looked at in the long-term to avoid the problem developing in the future.

Green Lane doctors say they need finance for an extra 180 heart operations each year to keep up with the demand created by an ageing population.

They have also made it clear that Green Lane does not have the capacity to carry out the 137 catch-up operations.

The Herald understands that once the agreement with the HFA has been signed, doctors will begin contacting private hospitals in Auckland and possibly Wellington to see if they can take the overflow.

Other public hospitals around the country, including Waikato and Wellington, are understood to be having similar problems with clogged waiting lists so are unlikely to be able to help.

In the long-term, doctors say it will take at least six months for Green Lane to build up enough capacity to cope with an extra 180 operations a year by hiring extra nurses and fitting out a new theatre.