Nelson patients wait as heart disease becomes inoperable — cardiologist

The former head of Nelson Hospital's cardiology service says some patients' heart disease has become inoperable because of delays to their care.

Dr Tammy Pegg is the ninth doctor from the hospital to speak to 1News recently about concerns that staffing issues are impacting patients.

"I decided not to do an interview and then I thought about it and I worried that senior leadership... think that this is just a bit of noise and that it will go away."

She says parts of Nelson's cardiologist service is "on its knees" and it has gone from leading the country to trailing behind. "There isn't a single aspect of the cardio team that's well resourced at the moment," Pegg said.

Across the country, there are major delays for heart scans due to a lack of sonographers. Nelson was meant to have four sonographers, but for a long time had just one.

"There was a good 12-month period where we weren't able to advertise vacant positions," Pegg said.

Health New Zealand has not responded to any of the issues raised by Pegg and sent 1News the same statement as last week. It emphasised the situation in Nelson was being taken seriously and a team was on the ground.

Pegg was head of the department and made the difficult decision to cut 30% of the waitlist.

"I think it was necessary for where we were at because my biggest worry was that somebody who really needed the scan wouldn't have access to it".

She said there were people that probably wouldn't have benefited from a scan, but it's not a decision she would make again. Some locums were employed and soon Nelson would be back to three sonographers.

But, for some patients, the impact has been huge. "I've had knowledge of patients who've had care delayed because the GP hasn't received their heart ultrasound scan.

"I've also had patients who've now got inoperable heart disease because we couldn't provide them with a heart scan 12 months ago".

She says there were longstanding issues, including doctors not being notified of patients test results and access to specialist paediatric cardiologists.

Two years ago, the department bought a $100,000 machine to monitor patients' hearts but it was sitting in a cupboard awaiting being installed.

"It's more than that because we're actually paying privately to outsource each monitor at $100 a go." Dr Pegg said the situation would be costing Health New Zealand thousands of dollars a month.

Nelson resident Stuart Yank was rushed to the emergency department last month and found to have a large anyurism.

His wife Adele said it was terrifying. "We honestly thought it was a heart attack with the chest pain".

Yankt was referred for an echocardiogram but was told it wouldn't happen until September because of staffing.

Until then he had to keen his stress low and not lift very much. "He's not doing anything and it's frustrating him and that's stressful the whole thing is stressful not knowing," Adele said.

Stuart Yank said his GP gave him some reassurance. "He looks up on the computer he says there's only a 6% chance of you dropping dead".

After the interview with 1News, he was called and told he would now get an echocardiogram next week, which the couple described as a relief.

Health New Zealand's deputy chief executive Martin Keogh told 1News in statement that the situation at Nelson Hospital was being taken very seriously.

"We are aware of Nelson Hospital's long-standing issues and staff concerns. We already have a range of initiatives underway, and more to come, to help alleviate pressure on our staff so they can continue to provide quality care for our community."

Meanwhile, Pegg said the Health NZ team on the ground needed to be listening to doctors and patients. "I wouldn't be alone in having my reservations. I worry about their obsession with looking at the data."