KEY POINTS:
An investigation is under way as to why New Zealand has lower numbers of heart surgery compared with other OECD countries despite high levels of heart disease.
A national cardiac surgery task force last year recommended to the Ministry of Health that heart surgery, including bypass and valve replacement, be increased over the next five years to the same level as that performed in other OECD countries.
The task force wants the numbers increased from 54 operations per 100,000 carried out last year to 73 per 100,000 by 2012-13.
Reasons for the low rates, more consistency across the country in who gets operations, better information and consultation were areas that needed to be investigated, the task force said.
Six thousand New Zealanders die of heart disease each year.
Waikato's cardiac unit, where most Taranaki heart patients are sent for major heart surgery, consistently has one of the lowest operation rates in the country, the Taranaki Daily News reported.
During the 2007-08 year, Waikato carried out only 43 cardiac operations, one of the lowest rates in the country. Otago performed 73 operations, the highest rate during the same year.
The Taranaki DHB said last month that it was investigating why there were fewer Taranaki patients on Waikato's cardiac operation waiting list per head of population compared with the rest of the country.
Waikato DHB surgical services operations manager David Brydon, a member of the task force, said it would be useful to try to find out the reasons why the referral rate in the Midland region was low compared with other parts of New Zealand.
The task force said that by increasing cardiac surgery, it would take operations from 2254 (in 2007-08) to 3241 (by 2012-13), a 44 per cent increase.
About 25 per cent of all cardiac surgery was privately funded.
- NZPA
