A survey of respiratory and sleep services in New Zealand undertaken by the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ).
OBJECTIVE
In 2004, the NZ Branch of the TSANZ published "Standards for Adult Respiratory and Sleep Services" on the Ministry of Health's (MoH) website.1 The aim of this survey was to evaluate each of the 21 District Health Boards' (DHBs) performance against the published standards, concentrating particularly on staffing, infrastructure, clinical support services, implementation of guidelines, quality assurance activity, and basic services (sleep, lung function, and oxygen).


METHODS
Postal questionnaire survey of all DHBs in late 2006.


RESULTS
All 21 DHBs responded. Only 10 of 21 DHBs were complying with the minimum standards of care. Main deficiencies in care related to: inadequate medical staffing rates, lack of quality assurance measures and insufficient laboratory testing (sleep and lung function). The lack of monitoring of such basic activities as outpatient clinic attendances, oxygen and sleep services, and the non implementation of treatment guidelines were of particular concern. Seven-fold variations in prescription of assisted ventilation equipment and oxygen therapy exist across the country.


CONCLUSIONS
When evaluated against minimum standards of care published in 2004, major gaps in service provision exist in New Zealand. Access to services is variable. There is a lack of national leadership and insufficient regional organisation leading to large gaps in service provision of even basic respiratory services. Immediate changes to the current service provision structures are required.
Garrett
Jeff
J
Middlemore Hospital, Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand. jegarrett@middlemore.co.nz
Chen
Bob
B
Taylor
D Robin
DR
D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000592:standards; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012139:Respiratory Therapy Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce