The Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSW LHD) has defended its handling of a case involving a 52-year-old Ballina grandmother told by Lismore Base Hospital she had to wait for a year for a colonoscopy to discover whether she had colon cancer.
The case was highlighted this week by shadow health minister Walt Secord who wrote to health minister Brad Hazzard asking for an explanation over the lengthy waiting times at the hospital which affected West Ballina resident Sharon Gregory (see our earlier story).
But in a brief statement issued yesterday, NNSWLHD chief executive Wayne Jones told Echonetdaily the hospital ‘manages wait times for clinical procedures according to the recommended timeframes’ set by clinicians.
‘It is important to note that, at any time, a patient’s clinician can, and will, change the clinical urgency category of their surgery if there is a medical reason to do so, like a change in their condition,’ Mr Jones said.
The chief executive said Mrs Gregory was assessed and referred by her general practitioner ‘and subsequently categorised by the specialist gastroenterologist’.
He added that ‘information about NSW Health Waiting Time and Elective Surgery Policy is available online on the NSW Health website.
Mr Secord has called for an immediate investigation into the delays for non-urgent elective surgery and other procedures at Lismore Base Hospital, which should ‘include whether there is an appropriate level of resources and staffing for the region.’
‘Taking into consideration the seriousness of cancer, this waiting time is excessive,’ he told the minister, ‘especially as health experts agree that discovering the cancer earlier can save lives.’
Mr Secord added that recent independent Bureau of Health Information research reports that Lismore Base Hospital has some of the longest waits in the state and the second longest waits outside Sydney – for non-urgent elective surgery with 1,593 patients waiting for elective surgery at the hospital.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
