Surgery slashed in bid to reduce hospitals' costs

The number of operations performed at Nelson and Wairau hospitals has been reduced in a bid to cut costs.

About 12 elective procedures, most of them in Nelson, will be lost each week for the rest of the financial year, which ends on June 30.

The Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board also confirmed all elective surgery will be postponed for about six weeks over summer.

The moves come at a time when some patients are waiting up to five years for non-urgent surgery, and the board is preparing to cut people from its waiting lists if their conditions are not considered serious enough to warrant treatment in the public health system.

Surgical and emergency services regional manager David Brydon said the cuts took effect about three weeks ago and would affect general surgery, ear, nose and throat, orthopaedics and urology.

The Health Ministry contracted the board to do fewer operations than it had the capacity to perform. As a result, it was already significantly over budget less than four months into the financial year.

The purpose of the cuts was to reduce surgery to contracted levels and save money.

National Party health spokeswoman Lynda Scott said it was extraordinary that the board's surgery volumes were over budget so early in the financial year.

Nelson GP spokesman Graham Loveridge said the cuts were "extremely disappointing" and demonstrated a need to remodel the health funding system.

- NZPA