30 August 2022
Emma Vitz
Ī
mēra / Email: [FYI request #19607 email];
Kia ora / Dear Emma
Official Information Act request ChChD (Canterbury District) 10899
I refer to your email dated 7 June 2022 to Ministry of Health which they subsequently transferred to us on 15th June
2022. Your request asks for the following information under the Official Information Act from
Waitaha Canterbury regarding outsourcing elective surgeries. Specifically:
1. The total number of surgeries outsourced by year (including the year to date) for the past five years.
2. For each year, provide a breakdown of the type of procedure.
Please refer to
Table one (below) for approximate elective outsourced surgeries provided in Waitaha Canterbury,
This information is from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2022 noting for 2022 three months of information is provided.
Table 1: Waitaha Canterbury’s outsourced elective surgery volumes - 1 January 2018 to March 2022
Calendar Year
2022
2018
2019
2020
2021
(3 months
Total
Health Specialty
to March)
Cardiothoracic Surgery
125
114
92
77
13
421
General Surgery
742
629
778
792
177
3118
Gynaecology
18
18
Ophthalmology
743
768
739
997
172
3419
Orthopaedic Surgery
818
783
761
*
120
2482*
Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
225
314
220
202
961
Paediatric Surgery
<5
Plastic Surgery [excluding burns]
168
349
324
<5
<5
848
Vascular Surgery
78
137
125
35
375
* pending final volume numbers to be confirmed
We are declining to provide numbers of outsourced patients where numbers are less than 5 (<5) pursuant to section
9(2)(a) of the Official Information Act to protect individual privacy.
3. For each year, provide the total spend on outsourced elective surgeries.
Please refer to
Table two (overleaf) for approximate total spend on outsourced elective surgeries provided in Waitaha
Canterbury. This information is from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2022 noting for 2022 three months of information is
provided. The spend captured is for outsourced surgery only; surgery carried out by private hospitals in their facilities
by their staff.
Table 2 –Waitaha Canterbury’s outsourced elective surgery spend from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2022
2022
T
o t
a l
b
y
Discharge Health Specialty
2018
2019
2020
2021
(3 months to Speciality
31 March )
(GST exclusive)
Cardiothoracic Surgery
$ 3
,862,575.20
$ 3
,837,305.83
$ 2
,868,499.66
$ 2
,423,265.00 $ 3
79,260.42 $ 1
3,370,906.11
General Surgery
$ 4
,653,851.06
$ 3
,931,390.90
$ 4
,895,026.73
$ 5
,686,411.16
$ 1
,171,057.26 $ 2
0,337,737.11
Gynaecology
$ 1
08,975.50
$ 1
08,975.50
Ophthalmology
$ 1
,747,935.00
$ 1
,785,715.00
$ 1
,735,025.02
$ 2
,420,191.06 $ 4
36,030.00 $ 8
,124,896.08
Orthopaedic Surgery
$ 8
,589,489.92
$ 8
,130,557.43
$ 8
,171,420.96
*
$ 1
,252,800.00 $26,144,268.31*
Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
$ 9
11,020.67
$ 1
,890,924.81
$ 1
,351,992.14 $ 8
65,498.27
$ 5
,019,435.89
Paediatric Surgery
$ 1
01,913.01
$ 1
01,913.01
Plastic Surgery [excluding burns]
$ 9
17,170.63
$ 1
,178,946.95
$ 1
,749,968.25
$ 3
6,332.31
$ 3
,882,418.14
Vascular Surgery
$ 4
45,564.83 $ 5
05,901.83 $ 4
71,575.02 $ 1
62,374.67
$ 1
,585,416.35
Total by calendar year
$ 2
1,127,607.31 $ 2
1,260,742.75 $ 2
1,243,507.78 $ 1
1,804,960.98 $ 3
,239,147.68 $ 5
2,531,698.19
* pending final figure to be confirmed
4. For each year, provide the amount that these surgeries would have cost the DHBs if they had not been
outsourced.
We are declining to provide this information as this will require substantial collation or research, pursuant to section
18(f) of the Official Information Act.
I trust that this satisfies your interest in this matter.
You may, under section 28(3) of the Official Information Act, seek a review of our decision to withhold information by
the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available a
t www.ombudsman.parliament.nz; or
Freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, or an edited version of this response, may be published on the Waitaha Canterbury
website after your receipt of this response.
Ngā mihi / Yours sincerely,
Ralph La Salle
Senior Manager, OIAs
Waitaha Canterbury / Te Tai o Poutini West Coast.
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
PO Box 1600, Christchurch,
Postcode 8011