Missing figures distort surgery statistics, minister says

Health Minister Pete Hodgson says "imperfect data" is behind the National Party's claim that fewer elective surgery operations are being carried out compared with five years ago.

National's health spokesman, Tony Ryall, has released official figures showing that in the 2000/01 financial year 107,881 people were discharged after elective surgery and in 2004/05 there were 107,208.

That was despite a 25 per cent increase in funding and a population increase of about 5 per cent, he said yesterday.

But Mr Hodgson said today there was missing data - more people had surgery as outpatients and were not recorded because they were not admitted to hospitals.

"Previously, that almost never occurred but now it has increased," he said on National Radio.

Mr Hodgson admitted it was an error not to record the out patient procedures, but said it was taking time to change software and he did not expect to have full statistics for about a year.

"The Government continues to put pressure on district health boards for increases in surgery," he said.

"We have put more money into orthopaedics, which is doubling (the number of operations) and cataract procedures are increasing by 50 per cent."

Mr Ryall did not accept Mr Hodgson's explanation.

"The fact is that despite an almost 25 per cent increase in hospital budgets over five years, the amount of surgery overall has pretty much stayed the same if not dropped," he said.

"The Government has been telling people one thing and the facts show another."

Mr Ryall blamed the situation on too much money going into bureaucracy and not enough into surgery.

His figures show regional differences, and there was an increase in his own Bay of Plenty electorate.

But in the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch fewer people were being discharged compared with five years ago.

Auckland health board chairman Wayne Brown said one of the reasons the city's surgical rates were low was that the same operations were now being offered in Counties Manukau and Waitemata.

In the district as a whole, the number of procedures had risen, he said.

- NZPA