KEY POINTS:
A man waiting for an urgent test for life-threatening bowel cancer was finally offered an appointment - two years after being referred to his local hospital by his GP.
But after 14 months of worrying, John White gave up waiting for Auckland City Hospital and went private for the internal test that showed he had cancer in his bowel that had spread to his lymph nodes. Now, after surgery and chemotherapy, he has been given the all-clear.
"If I had waited any longer, I know I would have died," the Mt Wellington 61-year-old father and part-time security guard said yesterday.
Early diagnosis of bowel cancer can improve a patient's chances of survival, which is why a national mass screening programme is being considered. New Zealand has one of the world's highest rates of colorectal cancer. About 2600 people a year are diagnosed with the disease and about 1100 die from it annually.
Major delays in bowel cancer testing were shown up in a survey in the New Zealand Medical Journal last week. The authors attributed the delays to shortages of specialised staff.
For the same reason, Wellington Hospital will send some children with cancer to Auckland or Christchurch for treatment.
Mr White said the first inkling he had that he was seriously unwell was the presence of blood in his stools. His GP referred him to Auckland City Hospital in May 2005 for a colonoscopy.
This is an investigation of the lower intestine - the colon - through a surgical tube fitted with a tiny video camera and instruments for removing potentially precancerous polyps and test samples of any cancers.
Having not heard back from the health board by last July, Mr White, whose younger brother has also been treated for bowel cancer, saw his doctor again and was sent to a private surgeon. The surgeon did the internal test and referred him to Mercy Hospital.
Mr White, whose care was financed by health insurance, had surgery to remove a cancerous section of intestine and some lymph nodes last September, followed by chemotherapy. He has had two CT scans since and neither found any sign of cancer.
Then two months ago he was surprised by a call from Mercy.
"I asked why they were ringing and they said they had been given a number of referrals that they were to follow up from Auckland Hospital."
Health Minister Pete Hodgson's office referred Herald inquiries about Mr White's case to the Auckland District Health Board.
Board management - asked by the Herald on Friday night - was unable to comment as it was unwilling to investigate over the weekend.
Chief executive Garry Smith said the board had subcontracted some colonoscopy work to Mercy. This was because of building work to improve facilities at Auckland Hospital and not any problem with the waiting list, which was "within its criteria".
The Journal survey completed by most public hospitals found that 828 patients with symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer - such as rectal bleeding and altered bowel habits - had waited for more than six months. Under national guidelines, they should have been tested within eight weeks.
The survey was done two years ago, but the Ministry of Health's principal adviser for cancer control, Dr John Childs, had no official figures to show any improvement since and said delays remained an issue.
National Party health spokesman Tony Ryall said the colonoscopy delays and the diversion of Wellington Hospital child cancer cases to Auckland and Christchurch showed that despite huge increases in state health spending and endless workforce studies, too few health workers were being trained.
DEADLY TOLL
* This country has one of the world's highest rates of colorectal cancer.
* About 2600 people a year are diagnosed with the disease and about 1100 die from it annually.
* There have been major delays in bowel cancer testing.
