Latest news with #GrahamRoper
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Almost 10,000 extra elective surgeries delivered by outsourcing privately, government says
Health Minister Simeon Brown says the government has delivered 9696 extra elective surgeries. Photo: Calvin Samuel / RNZ The government says it has delivered 9696 extra elective surgeries, putting it on track to reach its end-of-June target of more than 10,579 operations. Health Minister Simeon Brown said the procedures were completed by 11 May and most, 8631, were outsourced to private hospitals . He said they included hip and knee replacements, cataract and hernia surgeries and tonsillectomies. Brown said the programme targeted patients who faced the longest delays, with almost 60 percent having waited over four months for their surgery. "Our goal is clear - 95 percent of patients receiving elective treatment within four months by 2030," he said. "We are focused on increasing delivery of elective treatments - across both public and private hospitals - to reduce wait times for Kiwis needing procedures like hip replacements or cataract surgery." But the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists warned outsourcing would worsen medical workforce shortages and could create a two-tier health system. The chair of the college's New Zealand national committee, Graham Roper, said trainee anaesthetists needed access to the surgeries that were outsourced. "If the trainees don't get what we call a volume of practise, so a number of cases in particular areas of work, then their training gets extended until they reach that number. So potentially the training will become longer and that will make it less attractive for junior doctors that are looking for a career," he said. "It's a threat to our training scheme if we get a reputation for having to stretch out that training," he said. Roper said the government had said it was talking to private hospitals about training, but it was not clear what agreements had been made. "We do get regular reports from our training group which are keeping a very close eye on trainees and whether they're getting the experience that they need. To date, we haven't had anyone in a situation whereby they're not meeting [requirements], but we feel we're pretty close to it," he said. Any complications resulting from private hospital surgeries were transferred to the public system, Roper said, increasing the burden on public hospitals and making them less desirable places to work. "To look at a model that's going to have these unintended consequences of increasing burden without good consultation and planning is just a recipe for worsening the conditions in the public system," he said. Roper said Māori and Pacific people and people in rural areas were unlikely to benefit from the increased use of the private sector. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Health Reforms Raise Fears Of Two-Tier System And Workforce Shortages
Press Release – ANZCA Dr Graham Roper, chair of ANZCAs New Zealand National Committee, says the outsourcing plans will negatively affect the training of anaesthetists, who are critical for operations to proceed, and see existing specialists move from public hospitals to … Moves by Health NZ to outsource elective operations to the private hospital sector increase the risk of a two-tier health system and will worsen the medical workforce shortage, a leading medical college has warned. The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) is one of the largest specialist medical colleges in Australia and New Zealand and the region's leading authority on anaesthesia, pain medicine and perioperative medicine. Dr Graham Roper, chair of ANZCA's New Zealand National Committee, says the outsourcing plans will negatively affect the training of anaesthetists, who are critical for operations to proceed, and see existing specialists move from public hospitals to the private sector. 'Trainees' practical experience will be impacted, with a loss of exposure to outsourced clinical cases, and skewed amounts of urgent and complex work. It will take longer for trainees to get their required experience, delaying their entry into the workforce. Anaesthesia training will become less desirable, threatening the ability to produce much-needed specialists. 'Anaesthetists are a central part of both the hospital and the surgical team – without them, operations simply can't go ahead.' Dr Roper says the changes will lead to public system specialists facing a large amount of complex and urgent patients, requiring the highest level of care with extended hours of work. This would lead to specialists choosing to move to the private sector, further increasing the strain on the public system. He is also questioning the ability of some private facilities to provide the required level of care and training opportunities. 'Not all private facilities are set up to deliver the same level of clinical care as the public system. Private providers do not take on the same complexity of work in the same volumes as the public system, and may not provide high-dependency care, intensive care, acute pain services, pre-admission clinics and access to urgent investigations. Any significant complications during or after surgery will see the patient transferred to the public system for ongoing care. 'Many private facilities do not have on-site medical cover overnight and have a limited ability to respond to medical emergencies,' Dr Roper says. 'Our Māori and Pacific peoples, with increased complexity of health needs, are unlikely to benefit from this outsourcing model. In addition, our rural and remote communities may not be well served with this change. 'People living in rural areas are not always close to a private provider, can have transport difficulties, and lose family and whānau support if they have to travel long distances for surgery.' Dr Roper says ANZCA is willing to be involved in finding solutions to the unmet need of elective surgery across Aotearoa New Zealand. 'The provision of high-quality safe and equitable care for our community remains the core aim of our profession and the New Zealand public should expect that access to anaesthesia and surgery is future-proofed.'
Scoop
2 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Health Reforms Raise Fears Of Two-Tier System And Workforce Shortages
Moves by Health NZ to outsource elective operations to the private hospital sector increase the risk of a two-tier health system and will worsen the medical workforce shortage, a leading medical college has warned. The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) is one of the largest specialist medical colleges in Australia and New Zealand and the region's leading authority on anaesthesia, pain medicine and perioperative medicine. Dr Graham Roper, chair of ANZCA's New Zealand National Committee, says the outsourcing plans will negatively affect the training of anaesthetists, who are critical for operations to proceed, and see existing specialists move from public hospitals to the private sector. 'Trainees' practical experience will be impacted, with a loss of exposure to outsourced clinical cases, and skewed amounts of urgent and complex work. It will take longer for trainees to get their required experience, delaying their entry into the workforce. Anaesthesia training will become less desirable, threatening the ability to produce much-needed specialists. 'Anaesthetists are a central part of both the hospital and the surgical team – without them, operations simply can't go ahead.' Dr Roper says the changes will lead to public system specialists facing a large amount of complex and urgent patients, requiring the highest level of care with extended hours of work. This would lead to specialists choosing to move to the private sector, further increasing the strain on the public system. He is also questioning the ability of some private facilities to provide the required level of care and training opportunities. 'Not all private facilities are set up to deliver the same level of clinical care as the public system. Private providers do not take on the same complexity of work in the same volumes as the public system, and may not provide high-dependency care, intensive care, acute pain services, pre-admission clinics and access to urgent investigations. Any significant complications during or after surgery will see the patient transferred to the public system for ongoing care. 'Many private facilities do not have on-site medical cover overnight and have a limited ability to respond to medical emergencies,' Dr Roper says. 'Our Māori and Pacific peoples, with increased complexity of health needs, are unlikely to benefit from this outsourcing model. In addition, our rural and remote communities may not be well served with this change. 'People living in rural areas are not always close to a private provider, can have transport difficulties, and lose family and whānau support if they have to travel long distances for surgery.' Dr Roper says ANZCA is willing to be involved in finding solutions to the unmet need of elective surgery across Aotearoa New Zealand. 'The provision of high-quality safe and equitable care for our community remains the core aim of our profession and the New Zealand public should expect that access to anaesthesia and surgery is future-proofed.'
