Elective surgery performance lifted to 104% of target

Targeting More Elective Operations – Improved Access to Elective Surgery

1 November 2011

Please attribute the comments to Chairperson Sally Webb

Thousands of people undergo operations each year in surgical theatres around the country. Some of these operations are unplanned; the results of an accident, but others been scheduled as part of a patient’s ongoing medical treatment. The planned operations are called elective surgery.

Elective surgery is for patients who do not need an operation right away, and the Government wants people to have more access to this form of surgery with the public health system delivering better, sooner, more convenient healthcare for all New Zealanders.

At the Bay of Plenty District Health Board we perform well in this target.

In 2010/11 we lifted our performance to 104% of target achieving 357 more surgeries than planned, bringing our total of 8714 people provided with elective surgery. During the fourth quarter, we also lifted our ranking Health Target from 14th to 9th placed.

In addition to our elective surgery goals we:
• Completed 100 complex cardiology procedures such as pacemaker insertions.
• Performed 255 extra procedures in our Outpatients Department, with significant increases in ENT minor operations, sleep apnoea assessments and urology cystoscopies.
• Improved patient access to specialist assessments in outpatients with 2,941 more first and 2,329 follow-up visits provided when compared with the previous year, and including significant increases in cardiology, oncology, gynaecology, and orthopaedic procedures.
We have continued to meet the requirements for elective waiting times targets and have achieved a decrease in the waiting times for patients in a number of areas.

For Tauranga and Whakatane Hospitals only (not including elective surgery we contract from other providers) the increases have been:

Speciality
2009
2010
2011
ENT 853 804 866
General Surgery 1911 2194 2165
Orthopaedics 1611 1549 1670
Plastics 115 165 274
Gynaecology 813 924 847
Ophthalmology 862 994 1109
Urology 5
Vascular Surgery 126 80 188

Total
6291
6710
7124

Part of this increase is attributable to improved access to surgery provided through more patients going to Whakatane for their operations. Using the capacity at Whakatane is one way we can improve access to surgery for all the people of the Bay of Plenty.

We have increased operations performed in the Eastern Bay of Plenty from 404 operations per year in June 2008 to 585 in June 2011.

ENDS

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