More than 2,000 Taranaki patients waiting for their first specialist assessment have finally been seen following a series of weekend super clinics at Taranaki Base Hospital. The initiative has successfully halved wait times for both orthopaedic and ear, nose and throat (ENT) patients from 18 down to nine months.
Since January this year, hospital clinicians have completed 544 long-waiting ENT assessments and 1511 orthopaedic assessments. The clinics run from 8am to 6pm across Friday, Saturday and Sunday to tackle regional health backlogs.
Planned Care Manager Dani Cowley said the extended hours are continuing to reduce waiting times for patients who need specialist care.
"At the start of the year there was still an 18-month wait for patients to have a first specialist assessment with an ENT specialist," Ms Cowley said in a media release. She noted that bringing in outside help for the super clinics has allowed the hospital to cut that wait time down to nine months.
A key figure in the ENT success is specialist surgeon Sahr Kortequee, who has been travelling from Rotorua to New Plymouth to run the additional sessions. His dedication to the region included a particularly dramatic commute when the Awakino Gorge was closed following a significant slip.
Dr Kortequee recalled having to take State Highway 43, known locally as the Forgotten World Highway, in the middle of the night.
"I came through and there had just been a rock fall on that highway too. So I had to get out of the car and push enough rocks to one side so I could get through," he said. Following that incident, he now usually flies from Rotorua via Auckland to ensure he can safely support the weekend clinics.
Local orthopaedic specialist surgeon Francis Ting has also been working alongside the out-of-town specialists to clear the backlog. During the most recent weekend clinics, Dr Kortequee saw 100 ENT patients while Mr Ting completed 20 orthopaedic appointments.
Behind the scenes, the Surgical Booking Administrators team has played a critical role in making the initiative possible. For last weekend's super outpatient clinics alone, the team made more than 200 patient contacts to schedule 120 appointments.
