Specialist referral data released

Thousands of Bay of Plenty patients had a date with the surgeon's scalpel over a three month period last year.

Data from the Ministry of Health's National Patient Flow project show the Bay of Plenty District Health Board received 10,813 First Specialist Assessment referrals from July 1 to September 30.


In 2015 The Bay of Plenty District Health Board received 10,813 First Specialist Assessment referrals from July 1 to September 30. Photo: File

Of those referrals, 80.5 per cent (8709) were accepted, while 15.7 per cent (1703) were declined as they did not meet the local threshold for assessment. The remaining 3.8 per cent (401) were either ‘not decided' or transferred to another DHB.

For the same period nationally, there were 158,214 referrals, of which 87 per cent (138,314) were accepted, and five per cent (7229) were declined.

The National Patient Flow project measures the patient journey through secondary care services and will provide information on patients referred for specialist services, the outcome of referrals and the time it takes patients to access care.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman welcomes the first release of preliminary DHB data, saying it will help the sector to better understand the outcomes of referrals to hospital specialists.

'The snapshot of national data published last month has been updated as more data has become available, and it now includes a breakdown by DHB,” he says.

'As the data builds we expect the number of patients sent back to their GP for care as they did not meet the threshold, may rise to around 10 to 15 per cent.”

Jonathan adds the project not only provides transparency for patients but will also help DHBs and primary care to further improve their services.

'As a result of implementing the National Patient Flow project, DHBs are already making improvements to their referral management systems, administration processes, and communications with patients,” he says.

In 2014/15 there were 542,645 surgical and medical First Specialist Assessments carried out across the country. This figure rose by 26 per cent (110,597) on the 432,048 assessments carried out in 2008/2009.

DHBs adjust threshold levels for publicly funded surgery from year to year and determine thresholds for their communities using national clinical prioritisation tools to ensure access is fair and equitable.

The National Patient Flow project is being supported by the extra $400 million being invested into the health sector this year, taking the health budget to a record $15.9 billion.

For more information visit the Ministry of Health's website at: http://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/first-data-new-national-collection

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