A taxpayer-backed mobile surgery bus is finally on target to meet its Health Ministry quota, after a slow start.
The Mobile Surgical Services bus tours rural areas providing elective day surgery.
A total of $25 million of taxpayers' money was set aside in late 2000 to run the privately operated bus for five years and under the contract it was required to do 5000 operations in that time.
But in its first year, ending October 2002, it performed just 242 operations.
In the year to last November, it did 1107 operations - more than its annual contracted volume but not enough to catch up its under-delivery in 2002.
But services general manager Maryanne Sweeney informed Parliament's health select committee yesterday that the bus had treated 964 patients in the last six months.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Health system
Surgery bus catches up
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