The ''poorly managed and rushed'' bowel cancer screening programme seems unlikely to be signed off by the Cabinet anytime soon, Labour health spokeswoman Annette King says.
While it has been publicly announced, the Cabinet refused to sign off the programme before the Budget, and has put several conditions on its sign-off, a paper released to the Labour Party shows.
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and the Treasury are at odds over whether there are enough endoscopists and pathologists, and Dr Coleman has accused the Treasury of trying to ''ankle-tap'' the initiative.
The programme is highly anticipated in Otago-Southland, which has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world.
It is expected to see early diagnosis of up to 80 extra bowel cancer cases a year, and trigger 750 extra colonoscopies annually at the Southern District Health Board.
Earlier this month, Southern DHB gastroenterology clinical leader Dr Jason Hill warned that Treasury's concerns were valid, and said the gastroenterology department could not cope with extra work without more resources.
The Cabinet had been due to reconsider the proposal this month, but this week Dr Coleman's office was unable to confirm whether that would happen, saying only that it would be ''shortly''.
The Ministry of Health paper released to Labour shows the Cabinet had sought an assurance the 20 health boards had been consulted, and could deliver the programme within agreed budgets and timeframes. It also sought confirmation the necessary workforce was available.
Dr Coleman's office did not respond to a question about whether the proposal had been reworked.
Mrs King said the Government needed to be upfront about potential problems and whether promised timeframes could be met.
''Some of the dates and timelines have been put in for purely political purposes.
''The whole thing has been poorly managed, and poorly organised, and rushed for a Budget announcement.''
Some DHBs are likely to use the private health sector to deliver the colonoscopies. Mrs King said Labour had no problem with that.
''To get it off the ground, when there's a shortage of trained staff and capacity, use what we've got, because we're talking about saving people's lives.''
