Almost 10,000 extra elective surgeries delivered by outsourcing privately, health minister says

Health Minister Simeon Brown says the government has delivered 9696 extra elective surgeries, putting it on track to reach its end-of-June target of more than 10,579 operations.

Mr Brown said the procedures were completed by 11 May and most, 8631, were outsourced to private hospitals.

He said they included hip and knee replacements, cataract and hernia surgeries and tonsillectomies.

Brown said the programme targeted patients who faced the longest delays, with almost 60 percent having waited over four months for their surgery.

"Our goal is clear - 95 percent of patients receiving elective treatment within four months by 2030," he said.

"We are focused on increasing delivery of elective treatments - across both public and private hospitals - to reduce wait times for Kiwis needing procedures like hip replacements or cataract surgery."

But the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists warned outsourcing would worsen medical workforce shortages and could create a two-tier health system.

The chair of the college's New Zealand national committee, Graham Roper, said trainee anaesthetists needed access to the surgeries that were outsourced.

"If the trainees don't get what we call a volume of practise, so a number of cases in particular areas of work, then their training gets extended until they reach that number. So potentially the training will become longer and that will make it less attractive for junior doctors that are looking for a career," he said.

"It's a threat to our training scheme if we get a reputation for having to stretch out that training," he said.

Roper said the government had said it was talking to private hospitals about training, but it was not clear what agreements had been made.

"We do get regular reports from our training group which are keeping a very close eye on trainees and whether they're getting the experience that they need. To date, we haven't had anyone in a situation whereby they're not meeting [requirements], but we feel we're pretty close to it," he said.

Any complications resulting from private hospital surgeries were transferred to the public system, Roper said, increasing the burden on public hospitals and making them less desirable places to work.

"To look at a model that's going to have these unintended consequences of increasing burden without good consultation and planning is just a recipe for worsening the conditions in the public system," he said.

Roper said Māori and Pacific people and people in rural areas were unlikely to benefit from the increased use of the private sector.