Prioritisation for general surgery based on ethnicity does not translate into increased bookings, according to a review of prioritisation events at Capital & Coast DHB between May 2018 and August 2022. A total of 4527 events were included, of which 90.8% met the waitlist threshold with a median time to surgery of 99 days. Patient-reported Impact on Life (IOL) scores were significantly higher in females, Pacific peoples and those reported as other ethnicity compared with males and Europeans (all p<0.01). Clinician-reported total scores were significantly higher for Māori than Europeans (p=0.013). After adjustment for deprivation and procedure type, there was no association between the odds of surgery booking and patient age, ethnicity and gender. The study authors suggested that amendments to the weighting of IOL scores and ethnicity score adjustment may be considered.
