New research findings paint damning picture

Friday 24 March 2017

New research findings paint damning picture of unmet health need

New research findings published in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal paint a damning picture of the level of unmet health need in this country, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“As a country we should be very concerned when credible independent research suggests that at least 25% of adults are not able to get the primary health care they require and the unmet secondary need is about 9%,” he says.

“These research findings provide a strong counterpoint to the continual messages from the Government that all is fine. No, it’s not fine when so many thousands of people are living with distress and illness aggravated by inadequate access to the health care they need, and the Government needs to do something about this situation.”

The report published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today describes the results of a pilot study of methods for assessing unmet secondary health care in New Zealand. It was written by a high-powered team of senior doctors and researchers, including Phil Bagshaw, Susan Bagshaw, Christopher Frampton, Robin Gauld, Terri Green, Charlotte Harris, Andrew Hornblow, Ben Hudson, Antony Raymont, Ann Richardson, Carl Shaw, and Les Toop.

The research project was led by Christchurch surgeon Phil Bagshaw, who also runs the Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust which provides health care to people who would otherwise struggle to receive it.

The researchers developed a range of tools to determine unmet need and piloted these through face-to-face, telephone and web-based interviews. They wanted to work out which method or combination of methods of collecting data was the most accurate and cost-effective, with a view to it then being used to regularly assess unmet health need.

Phil Bagshaw says their findings indicated the level of unmet health need was disturbingly high and also reinforced the need for a robust, independent study into unmet need to be carried out regularly.

“There is growing concern about the number of people who are unable to access hospital treatment for non-urgent conditions including mental, medical and dental problems,” he says.

“The Government needs to address these issues in a meaningful way. What’s needed is a national survey of all district health boards to accurately estimate the level of unmet need for non-urgent hospital level care.”

Ian Powell says ASMS supports the call for an ongoing independent assessment of the level of unmet health need in New Zealand.

“Senior doctors see the results of unmet health need all the time,” he says. “It’s very frustrating for a doctor to know that a patient requires health care but does not meet various thresholds for accessing it, and of course this is very distressing for people who are missing out on treatment.

“The Government needs to demonstrate its commitment to the health of all New Zealanders by addressing the high levels of unmet health need as a matter of priority.”

ENDS

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