Hospital waiting lists show grim picture

Press, 10 November 1988, Page 4

Hospital waiting lists show grim picture

By

SARAH SANDS

A grim picture of public hospital waiting lists was presented to the Canterbury Hospital Board health services committee yesterday.

At the end of September, 5082 people were waiting for surgery. Of these, 1168 were waiting for orthopaedic surgery, 692 were waiting for general surgery and 636 were waiting for sterilisations. Of those waiting for sterilisations, 119 have waited between six and 12 months, 210 between one and two years, and 183 more than two years. The board’s medical superintendent-in-chief, Dr Ross Fairgray, said

that the waiting list was dynamic. “The total waiting list is 5000 people but nearly 3000 people have had their operations. The number of people waiting for long periods of time is relatively low.” Board members expressed concern at the waiting time for outpatient appointments. At the end of September, the waiting time for an out-patient appointment for E.N.T. (ear, nose

and throat) was 60 weeks, for skin disorders 40 weeks, for the diabetic clinic 32 weeks, and for eye problems 28 weeks. The first out-patient appointment for sterilisations is 43 weeks, urgent gynaecology four weeks, non-urgent gynaecology 26 weeks, urgent colposcopy four weeks and nonurgent colposcopy 18 weeks. A board member, Dr Jocelyn Hay, said that the waiting list for E.N.T. at

60 weeks seemed worse than usual. If someone had to wait 60 weeks for an outpatient appointment then had to wait for surgery, it would be tempting to have the procedure done in the private sector, she said. Dr Fairgray said that the waiting list times looked horrendous but the board was $l5 million over-spent and could not afford to appoint any more specialists.