Health New Zealand’s Waitaha Canterbury plastic surgery service has significantly reduced its skin cancer waitlist by treating more than 1,000 patients through additional clinics in May and June, with further efforts underway to improve access to timely assessment and treatment.
The service ran eight additional Saturday clinics over winter, seeing up to 40 patients a day, alongside five additional weekday sessions. Through this work, the service saw 700 non-urgent patient cases who had been waiting longer than 120 days for assessment and treatment after a GP referral.
The initiative helped the service reach 67% compliance with the Government’s Faster Access to Elective Treatment target, with further work underway to improve patient flow, expand specialist assessment clinics and strengthen collaboration with GPs to ensure patients receive timely treatment and reduce the risk of their cancers progressing.
Dr Sally Langley, Clinical Director for Plastic Surgery, says the additional clinics were made possible through collaboration across the organisation.
"The success of these clinics reflects the commitment of our people across plastic surgery, dermatology, anatomical pathology, administration, sterile services and many other areas who worked together to increase treatment capacity for patients."
New models of care also play a key role, with GPs working alongside the plastic surgery team and some clinically suitable patients being treated through primary care providers.