Investigation into low number of Kiwi heart surgeries

"A national investigation is under way as to why New Zealand has lower numbers of heart surgery compared with other OECD countries despite high levels of heart disease. Six thousand New Zealanders die of heart disease each year. And Waikato's cardiac unit, where most Taranaki heart patients are sent for major heart surgery, consistently has one of the lowest operation rates in the country. Last year a national cardiac surgery task force recommended to the Ministry of Health that heart surgery, including bypass and valve replacement, should be increased over the next five years to the same level as that performed in other OECD countries." - Fairfax New Zealand