CHRIS SKELTON/Zo
Senior academics and clinicians, including Phil Bagshaw, above, have been negotiating with ministers and the Department of Health about unmet health care needs for years. But they say they got little in return but silence. (File photo)
Leading doctors have written an open letter to Health Minister Ayesha Verrall out of frustration at feeling they are getting “absolutely nowhere” with their calls for action on measuring secondary health care.
The group, which includes senior academics and clinicians, have been reaching out to Verrall in recent months over their concerns about the unmet secondary elective health need (USEHN), asking for action on this issue and for a meeting to discuss further steps.
But they have instead received “unhelpful responses or silence” from her office, Canterbury Charity Hospital founder Phil Bagshaw said.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has also sent the minister a letter with his concerns about healthcare.
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Unmet secondary elective care need — non-urgent hospital treatment — has never been measured correctly by the government or the Department of Health, Bagshaw said.
Unmet primary health care needs are measured each year as part of the New Zealand Health Survey, but unmet secondary elective care needs are not.
“The success of any health system is determined by whether it meets the needs of the population it serves,” Bagshaw said.
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The group of senior academics and clinicians has been negotiating with health ministers and the Department of Health since 2017 to include effective USEHN measures in the national health survey, but feel they have been ignored.
They tried to help design and schedule the addition to the survey, but their efforts “proved fruitless.”
“We couldn’t go with them. They asked their own questions in the survey, questions that very few people would understand.
“In the end, they told us they were the experts, not us.”
Bagshaw said the ministry deliberately hindered their efforts.
“The Department of Health doesn’t want to measure something that makes them look bad,” Bagshaw said.
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In their April 2 letter, the group said: “Referral to specialized care, for diagnosis or management of health problems, is central to best health care practice in all societies and is considered a cornerstone of health care in OECD countries.
“In Aotearoa, over decades of poor policy-making, we have been pushed into a corner where we often do not know who is in need on an individual level, and we have no understanding of the full burden of need on our entire population. ..
“As part of Aotearoa’s health care reforms, we require full accounting of unmet secondary elective health needs to inform policy making and to ensure the continued protection of Aotearoa’s health.”
Signatories included Bagshaw, University of Otago Professor Emeritus Andrew Hornblow, Otago Associate Professor Bridget Robson, and Canterbury Charity Hospital trustee and pediatrician Dame Sue Bagshaw.
Verrall said Monday she had agreed to meet with the group in the “near future”, but Bagshaw said he had not received any offer to meet.
Meanwhile, Chief Surgeon Frank Frizelle – another signatory to the letter – met with Phil Mauger on Monday to discuss New Zealand’s healthcare system.
Frizelle told Mauger challenges they faced and exchanged ideas on how the city government could help.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Frank Frizelle met with Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger on Monday. (File photo).
“It’s not just a Christchurch problem, it’s a national problem. It’s all over the country. Several parts of the sector are really in crisis,” said Frizelle.
“Across the industry, there are significant staff shortages in most regions, which are particularly impacting the provision of services in elective services, but sometimes acute services as well.”
Frizelle said Mauger could help by writing to the government and announcing the council’s support.
The mayor wrote to Verrall on March 27 to express his concern over the “growing public alarm” in Christchurch about Te Whatu Ora’s level of service, saying he would like the chance to meet with her to discuss the situation.
“Publicly outlining the steps you and your officials are taking to address these issues will help alleviate concerns in our community,” he said.
Mauger said the Health Department had acknowledged his letter and said it would respond to him.