Equipment in high demand elsewhere in the country was sitting idle in the South, because the shortage of radiation oncologists was causing a delay in the numbers of people sent for treatment.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) Southern said locum staff were being used, and it was recruiting — there were at present three permanent radiation oncologists, and three full-time equivalent vacancies.
The shortage of radiation oncologists at Dunedin Hospital caused both patients and staff to be sent north recently while locums were sought, it said.
Apex union radiation therapist advocate Omar Hamed said yesterday sending people north was not going to fix the situation in Southland and Otago.
In other parts of the country, the constraint in seeing patients was the number of linear accelerators, machines used by radiation therapists to target cancer tumours.
This was not the case in the South, where there were three machines and a 30% spare capacity.
"It’s insane. We’ve got [a linear accelerator] sitting around not doing anything."
Patients had to have a first specialist assessment with a radiation oncologist before this, and there was a waiting list of over 100 people, he said.
"The big issue is the lack of radiation oncologists".
While locum staff helped the situation, radiation oncologists needed to be paid more to attract them to work in Dunedin, where private work was unavailable, he said.
"Te Whatu Ora is wasting a precious resource and as a result people are not getting the treatment they need."
The situation made a mockery of the organisation’s aim to end the postcode lottery, he said.
Retired Southern radiation oncologist Lyndell Kelly said the present measures were only a stop-gap.
For the situation to improve, radiation oncologists would need to be paid more. They could earn twice as much working in Australia, she said.
HNZ Southern interim hospital and specialist services leader Hamish Brown said earlier this week seven patients had been sent to Wellington between May and June, along with two radiation therapists to provide support.
This was "a short period of time" while HNZ Southern was arranging locum cover.
HNZ Southern worked collaboratively to support equitable access to radiation treatment nationwide, he said.
The option of treatment outside the Southern district was sometimes discussed with those who needed less complex care.
"This is to help support the current local capacity constraints and to ensure patients are provided access to timely treatment," Mr Brown said.
HNZ Southern at present had 34 radiation therapists and three permanent radiation oncologists.
It was actively recruiting for three more FTE roles, while various locums provided support.
This included three who were part-time, with one providing virtual consultations and two visiting Dunedin each month.
There was also a full time international locum.
"There are some other short-term locums, permanent applicants and fixed-term contracts currently being worked through with a number of international candidates."
