CDHB Responds to Tony Ryall Release

5 October 2007

CDHB Responds to Tony Ryall Release

The Canterbury District Health Board wholeheartedly refutes Tony Ryall’s comments today that fewer First Specialist Assessments being done by the Board in 2006/07 than 2000/01 equates to less access to surgery in Canterbury.

The data that he has used is simplistic, CDHB CEO Gordon Davies said.

Firstly the number of FSAs in 2000/01 was artificially inflated by an injection of one-off money from the then government under the Waiting Times Fund.

Better assessment in primary care before people are referred for an FSA, the introduction of GPs as liaison staff within hospitals and greater awareness of the threshold for surgery mean that the number of FSAs is also naturally falling.

Evidence that FSAs are not a good indicator of patient need has been demonstrated in Canterbury’s orthopaedic service.

CDHB’s GM Planning and Funding Carolyn Gullery said “rather than count the number of FSAs, we measure efficiency (and quality of service) by tracking the number of people that go from an FSA to surgery. While there has been a 100% increase (from 550 to 1100) in hip and knee replacements since 2004, this has been achieved with a reduced number of Specialist FSAs being required.”

“This specialist time is now able to be allocated to other activities and has helped to reduce the wait time for hip and knee replacement surgery to two months. By taking a whole system approach to improving patient access, significant efficiency gains can and have been made.”
she said.

ENDS

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