Deaths follow transfer delays

David Tulloch.

The patients who died, in June and July last year, were all transferring from Southland. Following the deaths, the board moved to a full-time interventional cardiology service.

It meant hiring two additional interventional cardiologists; one started in January, and another last month. Locum cover had also supported the service since last July.

Chief medical officer David Tulloch said the board did not know whether the three patients could have survived if a full-time service had been available in Dunedin.

''We do not know, with certainty, if outcomes would have been different for these individual patients had they been treated in Dunedin.''

Certainly, the quicker that patients undergo procedures the better, and the travel time to Christchurch is not ideal for supporting good outcomes.''

Transferring patients to Christchurch from areas other than Dunedin took too long. The delay involved was ''not optimal to support good patient outcomes [even with helicopters] and this is why we have now moved to full cover'', Dr Tulloch said in a written statement.

A timeline of events provided to the Otago Daily Times shows cardiologists wrote to chief executive Carole Heatly in September 2012 about safety concerns.

''An incident occurred where there was no [interventional cardiology] cover and an incident was logged by nursing staff. Consultants supported the family, who were very angry,'' the timeline said.

Asked about the nature of that event, the board said it was not a death.

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Deaths follow transfer delays