Richard Sullivan: Health NZ Chief Clinical Officer on the findings in the latest Clinical Quality and Safety Review

Access to timely primary and hospital healthcare has significantly deteriorated. 

Health New Zealand's released a Clinical Quality and Safety Review - using data from the past decade.

It reveals numbers of people waiting more than four months to see a specialist tripled between 2020 and 2023. 

Chief clinical officer Richard Sullivan says Covid played a role and numbers are stabilising.

But he says there's a long way to go.

He also explained one target is 95 percent of patients waiting less than four months - but we're on about 60 percent, so improving that is a big focus.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Health Enz's released a big review of its care over
the past decade. Some stuff's better, patient fools are better,
infection's better patient mortality. They've improved on that, but more
people are waiting for longer than four months to see
a specialist. Richard Sullivan's health end Z chief Clinical Officeries
with me. Now, Hi Hello, Ryan, Yeah, good, thank you.

(00:21):
So let's get straight into this. One of the numbers.
So one of the numbers here is a specialist assessment
wait times. People are waiting more than four months, and
that number is four times the number that we're waiting
pre COVID February twenty twenty. Is this all down to COVID?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
A lot of this, Ryan, that's right. You know, the
time for a patient to be seen by a hostile
specialist has increased significantly, and COVID played a part in that.
We saw that grow post COVID, but we saw it
grow even further. We've had a real focus on this area.
We started to see the numbers stabilized. We've seen a

(00:59):
smaller provement, but we've got a long way to go.
This is one of the health targets reaching ninety five percent.
We're currently sitting at around sixty. So we've got a
big focus on and breving that.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
How long does it take you? So we're at sixty
percent of where we should be. We need to get
to ninety five How long does that take?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Look? There there are tens of thousands, if not you know,
over close to one hundred thousand people on that list.
So that is going to take us some time because
we need to continue to see those people be will
fit in as well as get people off the list.
So we're having a real focus on those patients who
are waiting beyond one hundred and twenty days. We equally
a really important focus on those you have the greatest
clinical need. So this is going to take us many

(01:40):
years to bring ourselves to ninety five percent. We have
a plan in place with a key targets within that
that we need to meet so we can get back on.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Back and do you know how many years? How many
years before we get to ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Look we've got a twenty thirty target. That's you know,
that's sort of five sixty five years away, a long time,
but that is there is a real you know, to
get ourselves to their place.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
All right, really appreciate your time. This afternoon from Healthy
and Zed, the head I clinical lead. For more from
Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to News Talk zi'd
Be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on
iHeartRadio