Photo: 123rf
More than 20 elective surgeries were postponed at two tertiary hospitals in Hamilton and Auckland over the first two weeks of January.
Eleven of those surgeries were postponed at Waikato Hospital in early January to make way for a surge in emergency surgeries.
It was followed by the postponement of another 11 elective surgeries at Auckland Hospital last week.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Waikato acting group director of operations Alex Gordon confirmed 11 elective patients were deferred at Waikato Hospital during the week of 6-12 January to allow the hospital's surgical teams to perform acute surgeries and procedures for 28 patients.
Gordon said emergencies that can take priority over planned surgeries include:
- A new patient with a major trauma requiring life-saving surgery
- An organ transplant being prioritised at short notice
- A case becoming more complex than expected and the surgery taking longer than planned
- A patient's condition changing, meaning that their surgery may become more urgent
"Like many of our hospitals, emergent, urgent or complex cases can sometimes impact planned surgeries at Waikato Hospital," Gordon said.
"Patients and their families can be assured that surgeries and procedures are only deferred where it is clinically safe to do so."
He said the decision to defer care was not taken lightly and all decisions were made on a case-by-case basis by clinical teams with patient safety and wellbeing as the highest priority.
"Surgeries are always rescheduled for the next available opportunity and we consider the acuity of a patient's condition to ensure those with the highest need are treated first."
Waikato Hospital. Photo: Supplied/ Waikato Hospital
Gordon said affected patients were being rebooked and would receive their surgery by the end of February with the exception of two patients due to a change in their personal circumstances.
A source inside Waikato Hospital said the acute demand had increased significantly.
They said last year the demand for emergencies sat at 2000 to 4000 minutes of theatre time per day with occasional surges to 5000 minutes.
In that first week of January it equated to 6000 minutes, and each theatre manages about 400 minutes of operating each day with time for transferring patients and cleaning.
It equated to about 15 days of work. An appendix surgery, for example, might take between 60 and 90 minutes.
"It is tricky because there is often urgency to those cases and if they delay too long, patients can get worse or even die.
"That is why elective patients get cancelled when we have this high load.
"The acute demand has been increasing a lot, and so that is why so many elective cases get moved to be performed in private."
At Auckland City Hospital 11 elective surgeries were postponed in the second week of January, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Te Toka Tumai chief medical officer Dr Carl Eagleton confirmed.
RNZ was aware of one of those postponements at the weekend.
For the week 13-17 January, 480 patients received planned surgical procedures in operating theatres at Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Surgical Centre.
"Eleven had to be deferred for hospital-related reasons."
These reasons included prior procedures that took longer than expected, unplanned staff sick leave, an acute patient taking precedence, and one technical fault.
Eagleton said Auckland City Hospital was currently operating on a business-as-usual basis.
"We understand that any delay to surgery can be frustrating for patients, and while we try to ensure this does not happen unexpected issues can arise, and need to be factored in so everyone gets the appropriate medical care.
"Surgeries are always rescheduled as soon as possible, with each patient's individual needs taken into consideration by our clinical teams."
