Abstract
Our aim was to assess the impact of the increasing number of patients on orthopaedic waiting lists on general practitioners in New Zealand.
A 10-point questionnaire was developed in association with the General Practice Department at the Wellington School of Medicine, and mailed to 250 randomly chosen general practitioners around New Zealand. One hundred and fifty general practitioners returned the survey.
Sixty three per cent of general practitioners reported having between eleven and thirty patients on an orthopaedic waiting list in their practice. 85% of general practitioners reported spending up to an extra 6 hours per month looking after problems caused by having to provide extra care for the patients. In 90% of cases general practitioners reported that their patients required considerably greater community support in the form of extra physiotherapy, meals-on-wheels and occupational therapy. In 138 cases, general practitioners reported greater levels of stress in the families of patients on waiting lists. The majority of general practitioners reported an increased need for analgesia and night sedation during the period on a waiting list. They also reported substantial increases in paperwork necessary to access social supports.
This study documents the burden on general practitioners produced by the increasing waiting lists, and the re-alignment of waiting lists. This burden is reducing the general practitioner’s ability to deal with routine general practice problems, and likely adversely affects the health of other New Zealanders. There is a need for a study of patients on waiting lists to further assess their needs.
The abstracts were prepared by Jean-Claude Theis. Correspondence should be addressed to him at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dunedin Hospital, Private Bag 1921, Dunedin, New Zealand.
