Doctor shortage: Cancer service on the brink of collapse as positions go unfilled [Video]

By Rowan Quinn of RNZ

Doctors fear some cancer patients will face life-threatening delays if a serious shortage of senior doctors is not fixed.

The Regional Cancer Treatment Service, which cares for patients in and around Manawatū, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Whanganui and Wairarapa, has not been allowed to recruit the numbers it needs.

That is despite Te Whatu Ora saying its current hiring restrictions do not apply to medical roles.

There were huge risks for the cancer service if the short staffing was not addressed, Palmerston North medical oncologist Richard Issacs said.

“If you’ve got a service that cannot accommodate all the people who need that, there will be waiting times. And if you wait longer for treatment, your risk of dying increases,” he said.

An internal Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ report delivered 18 months ago recommended hiring four more senior doctors, one of them part-time, to be able to meet demand for cancer treatment.

They would be added to the …