The chief executive of the Southern DHB has apologised to the more than 500 people who have been waiting on cancer checks.
When Checkpoint with John Campbell first revealed there had been life-shortening failures in the treatment of some urology patients at the Southern DHB, the exact numbers were not known.
Checkpoint reported yesterday that there are currently 569 urology patients waiting longer than they should for assessment or treatment.
Weekend mega-clinics are to be held in November and December to address the backlog.
Southern DHB chief executive Chris Fleming told the programme today that of the 569, about 60 patients have now had biopsies - and about 50 percent of those do have cancer.
He said it was expected that the biopsies would reveal a number of people had cancer.
But he said not all of those would need urgent surgery with more conservative treatment appropriate for many of them.
Chris Fleming Photo: Supplied
Mr Fleming said he agreed that patients had waited longer than they should have for a diagnosis.
"We absolutely apologise for that," Mr Fleming said.
"This situation should never have arisen. It has, and what I'm holding myself to account, and the wider team on, is 'are we taking enough action quickly enough now to not only address the problem but also make sure it doesn't happen again'."
He said the mega-clinics were part of significant improvement in processes and practices it needed to undertake.
"We need to clear the backlog completely so that we can move forward in a sustainable manner."
He said where surgery was needed patients would be fast-tracked.
