Te Whatu Ora - Waitaha Canterbury said it had delivered 73 percent of planned surgeries since July 2022. Photo: 123rf
Surgery rates in some specialist areas will be down to 50 percent next week, Te Whatu Ora - Waitaha Canterbury has confirmed.
The district's health system has been described as being in crisis, with a lack of anaesthetic technicians leading to surgeries being delayed and cancelled.
Te Whatu Ora - Waitaha Canterbury said it had delivered 73 percent of planned surgeries since July 2022.
But hospital and specialist services lead Lisa Blackler said there will be a 50 percent reduction in capacity in some areas next week.
She said the aim was to deliver up to 70 percent of overall planned surgery next week, depending on staffing and bed resources each day.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Te Whatu Ora - Waitaha Canterbury said it currently had 29 vacancies for anaesthetic technicians, with seven resigning in the last month.
Nationwide there were 98 vacancies nationwide for anaesthetic technicians, about 16 percent of the total workforce.