{"id":319591,"date":"2026-03-08T20:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319591\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T20:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:03:08","slug":"hawkes-bay-hospital-department-wait-lists-drop-by-as-much-as-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319591\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawke\u2019s Bay Hospital department wait lists drop by as much as 74%"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSince adding the extra CT and MRI scanners, the CT waiting list in Hawke\u2019s Bay has dropped 74%, from more than 1000 patients to fewer than 275,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to increased capacity, extended service hours and more staff, the MRI waiting list has fallen 50%, from more than 700 to fewer than 300.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said outsourcing scans to private providers had dropped off.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of Hawke\u2019s Bay imaging is now delivered within the public system, helping create a more sustainable service. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe programme is on track to save around $7 million each year due to reduced outsourcing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThereThere are about 100 staff in the hospital’s radiology department. Photo \/ Warren Buckland<\/p>\n

A union, Apex, which represents staff in the radiology department, has welcomed the upgrades and improved staffing.<\/p>\n

Apex national secretary Dr Deborah Powell said that previously, staff were only on-call during weekends at Hawke\u2019s Bay Hospital<\/a> for CT and MRI scans.<\/p>\n

Now, she said there were staff on-duty over the weekend, and for longer periods on weekdays during the evening.<\/p>\n

She said there were still vacancies in the department which, if filled, would allow the machines to be operated more often.<\/p>\n

However, she said the improvements were very pleasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Hawke\u2019s Bay has proven is that sustainable investment and good collaboration between unions and the health service delivers results which are nothing short of miraculous,\u201d Dr Powell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients are getting their diagnosis earlier and their acute hospital presentation is more efficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur union first started engaging with Hawke\u2019s Bay in mid-2023 when staff were burning out and waiting lists were spiralling out of control. <\/p>\n

\u201cThrough appropriate investment, rostering and joint problem-solving, we have been able to get waiting lists [significantly down].\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she would love to see the same investment and changes rolled out in other regional hospitals \u201cto replicate these results\u201d.<\/p>\n

Health NZ employs about 100 staff at Hawke\u2019s Bay Hospital\u2019s radiology department, from medical imaging technologists to radiologists to nurses and support staff.<\/p>\n

The Government\u2019s $35.8m upgrade of the department is being done in five stages.<\/p>\n

Stage one, which was completed in November, included the two new machines and an additional 808sq m of floor space.<\/p>\n

The remaining stages, to be completed by 2027, include the likes of new staff areas and new medical rooms.<\/p>\n

The radiology department made headlines in 2023 when a damning report revealed the IT system was failing so often it was causing patient harm and making staff \u201cexhausted\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSince adding the extra CT and MRI scanners, the CT waiting list in Hawke\u2019s Bay has dropped 74%,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20700,806,1561,1558,3595,26034,38402,305,1976,42,2241,3274,10882,5969,43,32292,78456,40,38,41,39,5273],"class_list":["post-319591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-20700","tag-as","tag-bay","tag-been","tag-by","tag-department","tag-drop","tag-have","tag-hawkes","tag-headlines","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-lists","tag-much","tag-news","tag-radiology","tag-slashed","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-wait"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}