Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman

Minister of Health

26 July 2016 Media Statement

Referral outcomes by DHB & specialty type

The Minister of Health says the latest release of preliminary data from the National Patient Flow project helps to further complete the complex picture of referrals for specialist care.

“The data from National Patient Flow will help the sector better understand the outcomes of referrals to hospital specialists,” says Dr Coleman.

“A further three months of data has been released today, along with a nationwide breakdown of data by specialty type.

“This is information that has never been available before. It’s important for patients that the sector provides transparency, while DHBs and primary care will find this useful data to help them improve services.”

The latest data for First Specialist Assessments shows that between October 1 and December 31, 2015, there were 161,881 referrals for a First Specialist Assessment. 141,132 (87 per cent) of referrals were accepted, and 7,762 (five per cent) were declined as they did not meet the threshold.

12,987 (8 per cent) had their requests held or declined for other reasons. This can be so further investigations could be carried out, or because there was insufficient information from the GP, the service was no longer required or they were transferred to another DHB or another specialty.

These outcomes are similar to the first three months of preliminary data.

“DHBs are already making improvements to their referral management systems, administration processes, and communications with patients as a result of implementing the National Patient Flow project.

In 2014/15 there were 542,645 surgical and medical First Specialist Assessments carried out across the country. This is compared to 432,048 in 2008/2009. That’s an increase of 26 per cent (110,597).

DHBs adjust threshold levels for publicly funded surgery from year to year, and have always done so. DHBs determine thresholds for their communities using national clinical prioritisation tools to ensure access is fair and equitable.

The integrity of the data improves with each quarterly release. The Ministry of Health expects that the number of patients sent back to their GP for care as they did not meet the threshold, may rise to around 10 to 15 per cent.

The project is being supported by the extra $568 million being invested into the health sector this year, taking the health budget to a record $16.1 billion.

The National Patient Flow data can be found at: www.health.govt.nz

Notes to Editors

Under this Government good progress has been made in reducing waiting times. In 2011 a new measurement was introduced no patient would wait over four months for assessment or treatment.

Back in 2005 over 30,000 patients were waiting over six months for a specialist assessment or surgery. The latest data from May 2016 shows there’s around 1,000 patients waiting over four months and around 160 waiting over six months.

The number of patients receiving elective surgery has also increased. Lifting from around 118,000 in 2007/08 to 167,000 in 2014/15. That’s around 50,000 more surgeries over the last seven years - a 42 per cent increase.

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