Waiting lists, workforce shortages and a looming anniversary

"There is a need to reduce workforce duplication and some tough decisions will need to be made"

Te Whatu Ora’s ongoing battle with waiting lists and workforce shortages and a looming first anniversary were all on the table as the health agency’s board met last Friday.

Chief executive Fepulea’i Margie Apa said it hadn’t been an easy year.

“I certainly feel like a different person than I was 12 months ago,” Ms Apa said. “It’s been a pretty full-on year.”

But she was philosophical: “The reforms are a journey and we’re on a marathon, not a sprint.”

Ms Apa discussed the ongoing review of elective surgery waiting lists and recent challenges some hospitals have faced with their surgical backlogs. “That is a huge area of work we’re just continually chipping away at,” she says.

“I acknowledge the teams working in planned care at a hospital level, as well as in planning. We’ve had some challenges with hard access to cardiac surgery around the country.

“But I understand the team is working together to support those hospitals that have not been able to get ahead with their waiting lists.”

Board member and former National MP Amy Adams acknowledged the work being done to tackle the problem, but said people waiting more than three years for elective surgery is too long.

Ms Apa agrees and says Te Whatu Ora remains committed to having no one wait more than four months for an operation.

Ms Apa says the work on the recently launched Winter Plan has been positive.

She says it is about reminding people of the different healthcare options they have aside, from their nearest emergency department.

Ms Apa highlighted to the board the increased use of telehealth and pharmacies' minor ailments role in some areas as important steps.

Board member and specialist GP Jeff Lowe said the response from pharmacists to the scheme had been positive, but he questioned why it hadn’t been expanded.

“One of the things we’ve struggled with is taking good initiatives like POAC (Primary Options for Acute Care) and the minor ailments initiative and scaling them up to get them rolled out around the country,” says Dr Lowe.

Ms Apa says the scheme is targeted at key hotspot areas where ED demand has been high. Whether it is rolled out at a national level will depend on the evaluation of the existing scheme.

Board member Vanessa Stoddart asked Ms Apa for an update on Te Whatu Ora restructuring under Simplify to Unify, which could see up to 1600 jobs lost nationwide.

“You’ve talked on workforce and I’m very conscious we have a myriad of initiatives going on and now we’re getting towards a concise sort of workforce plan, could you just give us an update on Simplify to Unify and how that’s progressing?”

Ms Apa says this is a work in progress and the agency is still assessing the more than 13,000 submissions received on the proposal. “We need to consider them and what our staff are telling us.” She says there is a need to reduce workforce duplication and some tough decisions will need to be made.

Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora ran the recent Aoteaora Immunisation Week, the most wide-ranging such drive since the COVID-19 vaccine programme. Ms Apa says more than 2700 events were held around the country.

She says a review showed it produced positive results for childhood immunisation, but overall vaccination rates for COVID-19 and influenza during the scheme weren’t as good.

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