Orthopaedic patients waiting nearly three weeks for surgery due to ACC approval delays

7 minutes ago

Orthopaedic surgeons say patients are waiting nearly three weeks for surgery.

Orthopaedic surgeons say patients are waiting nearly three weeks for surgery due to delays in ACC's approval process.

Dr Alex Malone, chair of the Orthopaedic Association (NZOA)'s ACC liaison committee, said its members were reporting increasing delays all around the country.

Surgeries could be submitted as "clinically urgent" for faster approval, but in many cases, even non-urgent cases were waiting in pain.