Wellington has one MRI scanner operating, Health NZ has no plans to buy more

A multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer says she feels let down and scared after waiting two-and-a-half years for a routine MRI scan in Wellington.

The woman is supposed to have regular scans, but the city is struggling with only one scanning machine and not enough staff - forcing wait times to blow out.

Te Whatu Ora Health NZ data shows a massive regional variation in wait times for MRI scans last year - five days on the West Coast, but 89 days in the Wellington region.

MRI scans are important to diagnose a range of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease.

Health NZ said it was recruiting more staff in Wellington to fix the situation.

A Wellington woman with MS told Checkpoint she was living in a state of anxiety waiting for a scan.

"When I was first diagnosed I was told I would be having annual MRIs just to check the progression of the disease," she said.

"It was quite good for the first couple of years. I was having them quite regularly, but it's been just over two-and-a-half years now.

"I keep asking my neurologist and my MS nurse when it is happening and they really can't give me an answer."

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was hopeful of having a scan this year because she was due for a medication review.

"I feel quite let down, to be honest. It's quite scary and takes a toll emotionally when you don't really know what your body's doing or how far along the disease track you are."

She had spoken to people with MS in other regions who had scans more regularly and quickly, and urged health officials to get an extra scanner and more staff in Wellington.

Meanwhile, the woman continues to have to wait for a progress report on her condition.

"I feel like I've been left on my own, which is pretty disappointing. When you're young - I'm in my early 30s - it's pretty scary when you get diagnosed with MS. You're already faced with this uncertain future.

"You rely on those MRIs to track your progress and see where you're going. To not have that for two-and-a-half years, I'm kind of in the dark."

'Postcode lottery'

The Health NZ data released to Checkpoint showed that patients referred for an MRI scan in Wellington - in the former Capital and Coast District Health Board region - are waiting an average of nearly three months, as the city struggles with only one scanning machine and low staffing.

A wait of about a month is widely considered standard. Health NZ said its goal was to see 90 percent of people within 42 days.

Outside Wellington, eight other regions had wait times of longer than 31 days last year, and six were longer than 42 days.

Counties Manukau was the second longest, with 55 days, followed by Taranaki, with 51, and Hawke's Bay, with 49.

Health officials must act to get rid of regional variations and make a plan to reduce wait times, Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Malcolm Mulholland said.

"The postcode lottery that we're supposed to be seeing an end to is still alive and kicking in New Zealand," he said.

"It's worrying to see these national variances, especially when you start to see a creep outside the recommended one month in which you should be seen."

The Health and Disability Commissioner last year revealed a cancer patient endured a 20-week wait at the hands of the former Southern District Health Board, leaving him with a terminal diagnosis.

Mulholland said for cancer patients, MRI scans were vital and anxiety-reducing - "scanxiety" as many called it.

"They are very good at detecting certain cancers, especially those around soft tissue. I think of those with prostate cancer, for example, or breast cancer.

"MRIs really do serve a purpose in that regard."

Scan technicians' union APEX national secretary Dr Deborah Powell said there were problems across New Zealand with retaining staff in the public sector.

Many had moved to private clinics, where there were 500 MRI technicians, compared with 400 working in public health, she said.

"The number of scanners available across the country is variable and Wellington is probably the best example. There, we only have one scanner operational at the moment.

"That's a very low number for the size of the population that they're dealing with."

Meanwhile, the demand for scans was growing 15 percent a year.

"We've had to shut down scanning time in Wellington, for instance. We only have four radiology technicians in Wellington now and we had to bring the hours back.

"We simply couldn't scan over the length of time we had been previously because we just didn't have the staff to do it.'"

Powell said, ideally, there would be 12 to 15 staff operating two machines in the capital.

To make up for the shortfall, about 30 percent of scans were outsourced to the private sector, costing Health NZ $86 million a year compared with the $54m spent on public scans, she said.

She would like to see that $86m and all of the recent $30m being pumped into radiography access instead go towards buying more machines for public hospitals and retaining staff. They could then operate the scanners for longer to reduce the backlog.

"I'm not talking midnight until dawn. No one wants to come in and have their scan at that time of the day, but we do believe that there would be interest in people on waiting lists coming in in the evening and maybe the weekend."

Purchasing additional scanners not a priority for Health NZ

MRI referrals were prioritised based on a patient's level of clinical need, Health NZ director of the programmes delivery unit for hospital and specialist services Duncan Bliss said in a statement.

He said growing demand and workforce challenges including unexpected staff illness meant some people "with less clinically urgent needs" may wait longer for a scan.

"We recognise that long wait times can be frustrating. The goal is for 90 percent of people accepted for an MRI scan to receive it within 42 days or less."

Radiology services in the Wellington region were facing growing demand for services from people with "increasingly complex needs and acuity", Bliss said.

"The region continues to provide acute and urgent MRI services 24/7, train new MRI medical imaging technologists in-house, and work to recruit both across New Zealand and internationally.

"Maximising capacity and efficiency with our existing MRI units is our first priority before considering the purchase of additional scanners."

Bliss said Health NZ was committed to reducing variation in access to health services, regardless of location.

"However, it is important to recognise that the scale of change required will take time to establish and implement."

Bliss said the National Radiology Network was established in 2023 to target improved access and standardised service quality.

"Its core function is to establish standards and models of care to reduce variation in access, and ultimately improve New Zealanders' health outcomes.

"It will also be the clinical partner to Health NZ's broader focus on radiology across New Zealand."

The National Radiology Group, which has been in place since mid-2023, had been "instrumental in assisting with additional radiation oncology trainees, standardising some pathways, and supporting the movement of patients to reduce treatment waiting times", he said.