Waiting times for multiple sclerosis patients to see specialists have been revealed and, in the Bay of Plenty, they are shorter than in many parts of New Zealand.
Patients waited an average of 24 days for initial neurologist appointments. In some parts of the country, the wait was four months.
The figures were revealed after an official information request by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New Zealand.
For routine MRIs, the wait was about six weeks in the Bay of Plenty compared with six months in Canterbury.
DHB spokesman Neil McKelvie said they had no particular targets or initiatives to achieve the relatively short waits.
"It's about good service management as well as a good and responsive service from our external MRI provider.
"Across all of our services we are always looking at ways in which we can continually improve.
"In respect of the neurology service we are looking at reviewing and expanding this service still further."
Average waits for physiotherapy and ophthalmology appointments in the Bay of Plenty were considerably longer, at 45 and 53 days.
Multiple Sclerosis Society vice-president Neil Woodhams said a shortage of neurologists was having a major impact on MS patients.
Canterbury's acting chief of radiology, Dr Mike Hurrell, said the waiting time had now fallen to 22.5 weeks for a routine MRI but urgent cases could be seen within 48 hours.
Clinical status guidelines meant even the least urgent MS patients should be seen within four weeks, according to the district's written response.
Dr Hurrell said a rapid increase in population and new funded drugs for MS which required an MRI to determine suitability, had put pressure on radiology resources.
In Taranaki and South Canterbury people are waiting four months for an initial appointment - the maximum time Ministry of Health guidelines allow for first specialist assessments.
Taranaki District Health Board chief operating officer Wendy Langlands said some patients would have to wait up to four months for a first appointment in order to offer those with the highest clinical need to get treatment first.
Mr Woodhams said the waiting times for people to see a neurologist were unacceptable.
"In Palmerston North we have reports of people waiting 15 months for a follow-up.
"Delays can mean that a person with MS cannot access the treatment they desperately need in a timely manner which may result in disease progression and disability."
Mr Woodhams believed the delays were caused by under-resourcing of the specialty because of a lack of funding.
"New Zealand only has 37 fulltime equivalent neurologists employed in DHBs across the country. This figure is a disgrace," he said.
An article in the New Zealand Medical Journal in August 2015 found 74 fulltime neurologists were needed to cope with demand at that time, with the pressure only expected to increase.
The journal also found about half of the current workforce would hit retirement age by about 2027 but, on average, only one new New Zealand trained neurologist was entering the country's workforce each year.
"The latest evidence is that the sooner you are diagnosed and the sooner you get on to treatment, the more likely the drugs that are available in New Zealand for treating MS will be successful," Mr Woodhams said.
"Any undue delays in diagnosis - that means not just an appointment with the neurologist but access to MRIs, access to ophthalmology - is not desirable."
Pharmac now also required an annual review and MRI scan for MS patients on funded treatments which was only increasing the workload for neurologists, he said.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said he was aware there was an undersupply of neurologist positions in the country's public hospitals.
"These are not so much advertised positions but positions not advertised leaving existing staff to cover.
"This means overstretched neurologists, delays in specialist assessments and delays in necessary follow-up treatment."
About multiple sclerosis:
- MS is a progressive disease of the central nervous system, for which there is no cure.
- MS affects 2.3 million people worldwide.
- About 4000 New Zealanders live with the disease.
- More women than men have MS, with a global ratio of three women to one man.
- Diagnosis of MS is generally between 20 and 40 years of age, although onset may be earlier.
- Symptoms can include sight loss, pain, fatigue, incontinence and disability.