August 25, 2022
Health boards play surgery catch up
Whatu Ora Taitokerau is working on catching up on the treatment of Māori and Pacific patients who’ve been sitting on waiting lists.
Interim director Tracey Schiebli says the Covid 19 pandemic meant a lot of people didn’t seek timely care.
There have also been significant difficulties with short staffing.
She says in response to a Health New Zealand mandate, the district is working with Counties Manukau, Waitematā and Te Toka Tumai-a Auckland to clear waiting lists.
“We’ve reviewed all our Māori and Pacific patients who’ve been waiting longer than 320 days in Te Taitokerau and our team is working very hard on scheduling those patients. This will mean some patients will need to travel to other hospitals, probably for surgery more than appointments, but in some cases, we will be bringing clinical teams up here,” Ms Schiebli says.
The aim is to schedule all first specialist assessments by the end of August.