Ayesha Verrall. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Labour's health spokesperson says health numbers are being gamed by cutting the number of people who can go on surgery waitlists.
GPs are having to manage patients with worsening conditions who are being denied access to wait lists for specialist services.
A rejection letter from one department seen by RNZ said there was a lack of sufficient resources to see all patients referred within the limits of the Ministry of Health waiting time targets.
"This decision is forced upon us by a lack of sufficient resources to enable us to see all patients referred to us within the limits of the Ministry of Health waiting time targets," it read.
Labour accuses govt of 'gaming' health system
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall told RNZ's Midday Report funding constraints were the problem.
"GPs are finding that cases that would have been eligible for treatment in the system previously increasingly are being declined," she said.
Shane Reti. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"And in this case, a statement has been made that that's because it will create a challenge for meeting the government's targets," he said.
"We raised this at the beginning of the government announcing its plans around targets, because last time they ran these targets, we had exactly the same problem. We know that services will sometimes seek to try and game the targets to make sure that it appears there's not a problem, where actually the problem is just being swept up under the rug and people aren't getting the care they need."
Minister of Health Shane Reti told RNZ in a statement that the "government's health targets (including around FSAs and electives) will start driving the outcomes which Labour failed so miserably on".
"I have confidence in Health NZ as it works towards delivering on our targets, and delivering better care for New Zealanders in the process.
"I've been very transparent about the challenges the health system continues to face and as I said in March, when identifying those targets.
"'It is important that we are ambitious in trying to achieve better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The health system went backwards under the previous government and its failure to drive targets. Having effective targets, and reporting on them publicly, helps identify where there are problems - and how we can take action to improve them."
Te Whatu Ora clinical lead for planned care Dr Derek Sherwood said clinical referral criteria thresholds for first specialist assessments had not changed - with the exception of cataracts (as part of reducing variation and increasing access).
"New Zealanders can be assured that all referrals for an FSA will continue to be individually assessed by our clinical teams to standardised clinical criteria," he said.
The agency was working to develop a national data platform to give a better understanding of patients who did not meet the criteria for specialist assessments.
Under the old district health board system, each region held data about declined referrals in different ways.
"Developing this capability at a national level will take time but it will help us to understand local variation and where there may be areas of unmet need."
Verrall said rather than having waitlists determined by what the ministry said was available, instead thresholds for surgery and treatment should be "transparent".
"Without that, and with the government's current funding cuts, it's clear that people will just be sent back to their GP because that care can't be provided."
In the meantime, she said anyone who felt they had wrongly missed out on treatment should ask their GP to "re-refer" them, go to the health and disability commissioner or write to their local MP.
Verrall did not blame the specialist who wrote the letter seen by RNZ for turning the patient away.
"It sounds pretty honest - if that specialist had been told that they couldn't accept more people onto the waitlist because it would look bad for the government's wait times, then that is absolutely a legitimate thing to do.
The comments come after former former Palmerston North mayor Heather Tanguay, 80, was left in limbo and waiting for a specialist appointment about her painful hip.
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