Barry Soper: The Government intended to roll out equity adjustor scores before media scrutiny

It seems the Government's put on ice plans for a nationwide roll out of the equity adjustor scores being given to Auckland patients on waiting lists for surgery because of the publicity given to them by The Herald and Newstalk ZB.

Since the story broke on Monday, the Prime Minister's spoken to his Health Minister Ayesha Verrall about the lists having one of its weightings devoted to ethnicity, putting Maori and Pacific patients at the top.

Chris Hipkins said he doesn't want to replace what he says is one form of discrimination in the clogged-up hospital system with another.

The Government's intention was clearly to rollout the adjustor scores nationwide, with Verrall saying so in a written Parliamentary question from National's health spokesman Shane Reti. She said: "I am advised that a wait list prioritisation tool has been developed and is currently being implemented across the Northern Region before a national roll out." In fact, the scores aren't being used in Northland and are at this stage confined to two hospitals, Auckland and Middlemore.

It seems Hipkins was left in the dark about it though. On the Mike Hosking Newstalk ZB breakfast show yesterday he said: "My understanding is there's two DHBs, I think it was Auckland and Northland, certainly from the conversation I've had with the Minister of Health there's no intention to roll this out nationally."

To reporters at Parliament who told him of Verrall's reply to Reti's question, Hipkins said he hasn't seen that and they'd have to ask Verrall about it.

In Parliament, Reti did just that by asking her who was correct, the Prime Minister saying there would be no roll out or her replying to his written question saying that it was her intention. Verrall said she's been asked by Hipkins to find out whether the scoring system's being used in the way it was intended and there'll be no roll out until she's satisfied that it is.

Hipkins, a former Health Minister, told reporters at Parliament: "There is evidence that Maori and Pacific patients, rural people, people from low-income families have been waiting longer in that two year plus waitlist category and that isn't acceptable and the health system should do something about that."

However, he said he didn't want to see one form of discrimination replaced by another form of discrimination.

But on the equity adjustor score waiting list leaked to Newstalk ZB, no-one has been waiting for more than two years - the longest wait is for a Middle Eastern patient who's been waiting 644 days for surgery, but won't be seen anytime soon because he has a low score.

The two Maori on it, both with the highest score by far, therefore likely to be operated on first, have been waiting 441 and 518 days, a shorter wait than a number of others with lower scores.

One of the Maori patients has been waiting for exactly the same time as an Indian, but with a score of 1116 compared to the Indian's 744 will go under the knife much sooner.

Former Auckland District Health Board member for eight years, Doug Armstrong, said giving priority on waiting lists was discussed as far back as 2020 and then on and off until it was disbanded last August.

Armstrong doesn't like the equity adjustor scores giving priority on ethnic grounds. He would expect clinicians to make their decisions based on need and nothing else.  He said there could be the odd exception, like if an elderly pakeha man was due for the same surgery as a young Maori expected to provide for his four children, then the latter would get priority and vice versa.

He said circumstance should be a priority and not race.

Armstrong said the ethnic rule doesn't send the right message and has no place in this country.

Barry Soper is a New Zealand political journalist, and has been featured regularly on radio and television since the 1970s. Currently, Soper's main role is political editor at Newstalk ZB, a radio network in New Zealand.