Potentially lethal drugs

Some anaesthetists are threatening to quit the country if their lesser-trained assistants are allowed to administer potentially lethal drugs.

Australia and the United States allow the practice, which is recommended in a report as a way to ease a critical shortage of anaesthetists in smaller hospitals.

But anaesthetists train for up to 13 years and say the profession should remain a "medical specialty", with 45% saying they would consider leaving New Zealand, and that patients could be at risk.

The Anaesthesia 2020 report by the Anaesthesia Resource Review Group found the workforce in public hospitals was "severely stressed in some regions".

"It's likely to come under more stress as demand for anaesthetic resources increases, with a risk of service failure unless measures are taken."

The report called it a 100/40 problem – an anticipated 100% increase in demand in a decade but a projected funding increase of only 40%.

The lure of Australian salaries was also a problem.

Opposition centred on the assistants – nurses or doctors – having less medical or anaesthetic training, that patients were at a greater risk of harm, that it was cost-saving rather than an improvement in services, and that assistants were unsuitable for remote areas anyway because of a lack of supervision.

Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists spokesman Dr Geoff Long said there was a concentration of skills in urban areas, and particular shortages in Greymouth, the West Coast and Invercargill.

He said smaller centres were forced to use expensive locums or, as in a third of all departments, restrict annual leave.

There are about 530 specialists and a further 155 are being trained.