Nelson Hospital’s head of urology says the public deserves to know how dire things are in the department. <\/p>\n
Usually there are four urologists but for the last year there have just been two \u2013 covering Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough. <\/p>\n
Dr Patrick Meffan has been a urologist in Nelson for 34 years and his father helped set up the department in 1968.<\/p>\n
He said he’s sacrificed a lot to ensure those most in need still get seen. <\/p>\n
“My bottom line is I cannot disappoint patients. Once I’m aware of them, once they’ve been in a chair opposite me and I’ve seen the whites of their eyes, I can’t disappoint them.”<\/p>\n
Health New Zealand said an independent review of the urology service was due out soon and it was committed to making it sustainable. <\/p>\n
Triaging a department on the brink<\/p>\n
Dr Patrick Meffan is the head of Nelson Hospital’s urology department, set up by his father in 1968.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Meffan’s now the only doctor in the top of the south who can perform the large, complex surgeries for many kidney, bladder and prostate cancers. <\/p>\n
He’s been doing surgery during his leave time to ensure patients’ cancers don’t become terminal. <\/p>\n
“Even 18 months ago… I was presented with 16 cancers here and we’ve not got an answer for any of them. And I came back in my leave and in a stint of operating every day did 12 of those.”<\/p>\n
The surgeries are demanding, can be more than six hours long, and like running a marathon, Dr Meffan said. <\/p>\n
He recently flew back from W\u0101naka for an urgent case when no one from the main centres would come in to perform the surgery. <\/p>\n
“I just think at the end of the day, what’s a day or two of my holiday and someone’s chance [of surviving]”. <\/p>\n
But that means patients without cancer can face bigger delays. That includes patients with large kidney stones or men who cannot urinate.<\/p>\n
“For some people that’s really unpleasant… you know, it’s just inconvenient having a bag of urine sloshing on your leg and so on. And because it’s no longer urgent surgery, it just goes right down the list.”<\/p>\n
He said in some cases patients are waiting up to a year in quite difficult circumstances. <\/p>\n
Independent review due out soon<\/p>\n
“What’s hard about this is that I’ve never wanted to be a whistleblower,” Meffan said. “I’m trying to reframe that; I am actually just trying to help Health New Zealand do their job.<\/p>\n
“Above all else, the reason I am talking to you now is that I think that the public… and the leaders of the public… deserve to know. Because I don’t think they know.”<\/p>\n
He hoped the public, local mayors, and MPs would speak up if they don’t think what’s happening is good enough. <\/p>\n
Health NZ said it’s recruiting for the vacant roles, but a shortage of urologists makes it challenging. <\/p>\n
Nelson Hospital’s interim chief medical officer Dr Derek Sherwood said interim measures, like use of locums and outsourcing have helped. <\/p>\n
“We’ve halved the number of patients waiting for assessment, significantly reduced the wait time so I think we have improved the service,” Dr Sherwood said.<\/p>\n