Half of heart attack patients not treated within accepted timeframes, study finds
Photo:
123rf/ Georgiy Datsenko
Half of all heart attack patients are not being treated within accepted timeframes in New Zealand, which has just a third of the cardiologists it needs, according to a new Otago University report commissioned by cardiac advocacy charity Kia Manawanui Trust.
For the first time, the total cost of heart disease to the New Zealand economy has been calculated at an estimated $13.8 billion a year.
Trust chief executive Letitia Harding said the findings exposed a system that was failing at every level.
"Heart care in New Zealand isn't just stretched - it's on the verge of collapse," she said. "We are failing in all aspects and it's costing New Zealanders their lives."
Key findings from the
Heart disease in Aotearoa: morbidity, mortality and service delivery
report include:
Wellington-based cardiologist and trust medical director Dr Sarah Fairley said the findings by Otago researcher Dr Lucy Telfar-Barnard matched the experience of front-line clinicians.
"From inside the system, I can tell you that this report reflects what we see every day - a workforce stretched beyond safe limits, patients slipping through the cracks and no end in sight."
Cardiologist and trust medical director Dr Sarah Fairley.
Photo:
Kia Manawanui Trust
Harding said the report should be "a wake-up call for the government".
The trust is is calling for immediate investment in public hospital cardiac care infrastructure - beds and equipment - and a national strategy to recruit and retain cardiology staff.
The total cost of heart disease deaths in 2020 was $13.09b, from 74,708 life years lost.
In 2024, New Zealand had 173.2 full-time cardiologists or 32.8 FTE per million people. That is three times lower than the average (95 specialists per million) of all countries measured by the European Society of Cardiology.
Ministry data showed no cardiac staff at all in Wairarapa or Whanganui, no cardiologists or sonographers/cardiac physiologists in Lakes, West Coast or Souther Canterbury, and no cardiologists in Tairāwhiti.
With 96.3 full-time cardiologists per million, Auckland was the only city with comparable number of specialists to European countries. Waikato (47.5 FTE per million) was half the European average, while others were much less, ranging from 21.4 to 27.
Health Minister Simeon Brown
Photo:
Nathan Mckinnon / RNZ
The number of cardiology sonographers had dropped from 70.4 in 2013 to just 43.5 in 2024, despite the 17 percent population increase. The ratio of sonographers had nearly halved from 16 per million to 8.2.
Heart disease was responsible for one in five deaths and five percent of hospital admissions.
The cost of heart disease:
These were minimum costs, as they did not include the cost of emergency department visits, nor indirect costs of workdays lost to emergency department and outpatient visits, nor years lost to disability.
In a statement, Health Minister Simeon Brown said the government expected Health New Zealand to have a continued focus on strengthening cardiac services nationwide.
He said the report highlighted several key areas Health New Zealand must act on, including addressing regional variations in service quality and patient outcomes.
"I have been advised that Health New Zealand has established a National Clinical Cardiac Network which is developing national standards and models of care, while also establishing dedicated work streams to ensure consistent, quality care.
"This includes funding for new training positions for cardiac sonographers - a key workforce needed to bring down the echocardiogram waitlist."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
6 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch Hospital trauma service made no difference
A "minimally resourced" specialist trauma service at Christchurch Hospital failed to make any difference for patients in its first year, due to poor staffing and limited operating hours, new research has found. Christchurch Hospital, the largest trauma centre in the South Island, established a specialist trauma admitting service in January 2022. Internationally, such services have been shown to improve survival rates and recovery for patients admitted to hospital after major trauma. However, the Otago University study, published in The New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday, which involved nearly 800 patients, found "no measurable improvement" in major trauma outcomes for those admitted in its first year of operation, compared with those admitted the year before. The authors, including surgeons, said "resourcing limitations have undermined the potential impact of this service". "The Christchurch TAS was launched without adequate funding, resulting in significant staffing shortfalls, including limited trauma surgeon involvement (fewer than four hours per week), no dedicated house officer and restricted operational hours (Monday to Friday only)," it said. "As a result, trauma patients admitted over the weekend were initially managed by the on-call surgical teams before being handed over to the TAS on Monday, potentially leading to delays or inconsistencies in tertiary survey completion. "This has meant that patients admitted over weekends are initially managed by on-call teams before being transferred to the TAS, introducing delays and potential inconsistencies in care." Due to staffing shortages there were periods when the service was not functioning at all, which probably diluted its impact, the report noted. "An example of this is when there was a lack of registrar cover, and so the entire service was closed over the Christmas and New Year period in 2023/2024." Another limitation was "inconsistent or missing data", which may have affected the accuracy of outcome measures and "masked potential areas of improvement", researchers said. Injury is the leading cause of death in New Zealand for those under the age of 35, and the second most common reason for hospitalisation. Although most New Zealand hospitals have dedicated trauma assessment teams (including staff from emergency medicine, general surgery, anaesthetics and nursing), only two of the country's seven tertiary hospitals provide ongoing inpatient trauma-specific care through dedicated trauma admission teams. Health NZ has been approached for comment.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Christchurch Hospital's specialist trauma service made no difference in first year
Christchurch Hospital is the largest trauma centre in the South Island. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon A "minimally resourced" specialist trauma service at Christchurch Hospital failed to make any difference for patients in its first year, due to poor staffing and limited operating hours, new research has found. Christchurch Hospital, the largest trauma centre in the South Island, established a specialist trauma admitting service in January 2022. Internationally, such services have been shown to improve survival rates and recovery for patients admitted to hospital after major trauma. However, the Otago University study, published in The New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday, which involved nearly 800 patients, found "no measurable improvement" in major trauma outcomes for those admitted in its first year of operation, compared with those admitted the year before. The authors, including surgeons, said "resourcing limitations have undermined the potential impact of this service". "The Christchurch TAS was launched without adequate funding, resulting in significant staffing shortfalls, including limited trauma surgeon involvement (fewer than four hours per week), no dedicated house officer and restricted operational hours (Monday to Friday only)," it said. "As a result, trauma patients admitted over the weekend were initially managed by the on-call surgical teams before being handed over to the TAS on Monday, potentially leading to delays or inconsistencies in tertiary survey completion. "This has meant that patients admitted over weekends are initially managed by on-call teams before being transferred to the TAS, introducing delays and potential inconsistencies in care." Due to staffing shortages there were periods when the service was not functioning at all, which probably diluted its impact, the report noted. "An example of this is when there was a lack of registrar cover, and so the entire service was closed over the Christmas and New Year period in 2023/2024." Another limitation was "inconsistent or missing data", which may have affected the accuracy of outcome measures and "masked potential areas of improvement", researchers said. Injury is the leading cause of death in New Zealand for those under the age of 35, and the second most common reason for hospitalisation. Although most New Zealand hospitals have dedicated trauma assessment teams (including staff from emergency medicine, general surgery, anaesthetics and nursing), only two of the country's seven tertiary hospitals provide ongoing inpatient trauma-specific care through dedicated trauma admission teams. Health NZ has been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- RNZ News
Young people speak on the impact of having concussions
sport health about 1 hour ago An expert in traumatic brain injuries is calling for consistent protocols when dealing with concussions in schoolyard sport to prevent debilitating long-term impacts. While there's greater awareness about the risks associated with concussion, Pat Hopkins from the Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust said that too often, head knocks are treated differently if they occur during lower-level sports. Checkpoint spoke to young people who've been concussed playing sport at school and university, and continue to suffer consequences for years afterwards. Bella Craig reports.
