8. Question No. 8—HealthDr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 8—Health8. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: Can he confirm that the response he gave to the House last week that 29189 people have been waiting more than four months on the surgical waiting list is the highest number recorded since October 2017 and how many of the 5513 waiting more than 12 months on that list have presented to an emergency department for that condition while they waited for surgery?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): In answer to the first part of the question the figure given last week of 29189 people waiting more than four months for surgical and other treatment was as at 31 July 2022 which is the most current data we have. As I also said last week the number of people waiting longer than four months changes daily because of procedures being completed and people falling into that waiting period. While that number is the highest number of people waiting for surgical procedures since October 2017 the member should note firstly that our health system like all others around the world has suffered significant disruption because of the COVID pandemic. Secondly disruption to planned care happened in order for hospitals to meet the demands created by COVID and more recently the winter flu season. Thirdly waiting times in excess of four months have fluctuated throughout the pandemic as hospitals picked up the delivery of planned care when infections were low such as going from 15461 in May 2020 to 7738 in September 2020 and 13018 in March 2021 to 12566 in June 2021. Fourthly the health system is prioritising planned care right now since the planned care task force started its work and since Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand's chief executive directive in July. In response to the second part of the question officials advise me that the relevant data is not collected at the time of presentation to an emergency department to know whether the condition a patient has presented with is related to a condition for which they may be awaiting treatmentDr Shane Reti: Will every person who has been waiting more than 12 months be booked for surgery by this Friday as directed by Health New Zealand; if not why not?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The advice I've had from Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand is that good progress is being made in clearing the waiting list for those waiting more than 12 months. The latest data I saw suggested that that waiting list has fallen by 50 percent as at roughly the end of August and I expect good progress to continue to be made.Dr Shane Reti: In what time frame then can most of the 5513 people who have already waited 12 months expect to have their surgery?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: What I think those who are waiting for their procedures can know is that with the system we have now and the leadership it is under now every effort is being made to make sure that those waiting the longest will get their treatment in a system that has also had to balance the need to continue to respond to COVID-19 and also deal with one of the worst flu outbreaks we have had in the history of this country.Dr Shane Reti: Did the surgical wait-list go up by more than a thousand people over the three months since he formed his high-performance task workforce?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Since the task force was established in May this country has experienced the worst flu outbreak in its history—since 1918. I know that on Planet National" you can have a global pandemic and a massive flu outbreak and the health system doesn't bat an eyelid. In the real world we have a health system that has to respond to every challenge before it and sometimes has to make difficult decisions when it makes priorities.Hon Chris Hipkins: Has the Minister seen reports that DHBs previously managed hospital waiting lists by declining people's first specialist assessment on the basis that there was no space available on the waiting list?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I can confirm that as of a few years ago—certainly under the previous Government—the way that hospitals managed waiting lists was that if people could not be seen within a four-month period they were simply told "You cannot come here; go back to your GP." and that data was never recorded.Dr Shane Reti: Can he confirm that Waikato DHB created a second list where they moved people off the surgical list to send them back to their GPs?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I can confirm that that member's track record of getting his dates wrong and mischaracterising things continues apace. That did not happen."