'Super clinics' cut Taranaki wait limes for ear, nose and throat patients

A specialist surgeon has been going the extra mile quite literally to help cut wait times for patients in Taranaki.

Ear, nose and throat specialist surgeon Sahr Kortequee has been travelling from Rotorua to New Plymouth to help run "super clinics" at Taranaki Base Hospital.

"One time I came through and the Awakino Gorge had been closed following the significant slip, so I had to take the Forgotten World Highway in the middle of the night," Kortequee said.

"I came through and there had just been a rock fall on that highway too. So I had to get out of the car and push enough rocks to one side so I could get through!"

Kortequee now usually flew from Rotorua via Auckland to ensure he could continue supporting the weekend clinics.

More than 2000 patients waiting for their first specialist assessment have now been seen through a series of weekend super clinics, helping to halve wait times for both Orthopaedic and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) patients from 18 to nine months.

Since January 2026, clinicians have completed 544 long-waiting ENT first specialist assessments and 1511 orthopaedic assessment, significantly reducing backlogs and improving access to specialist care.

Behind the scenes, the Surgical Booking Administrators team had also played a critical role in making the clinics possible. For last weekend's super outpatient clinics alone, the team made more than 200 patient contacts to schedule 120 appointments.

Planned care manager Dani Cowley said running from 8am to 6pm across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the clinics were continuing to reduce waiting times for patients.

"At the start of the year there was still an 18-month wait for patients to have a first specialist assessment with an ENT specialist.

"With Lakes ENT specialist Sahr Kortequee travelling down from Rotorua for super clinic weekends this year, we have been able to reduce that wait time to nine months."

The latest weekend clinics included appointments for 100 ENT patients with Kortequee and 20 orthopaedic patients with local orthopaedic specialist surgeon Francis Ting, further building on the progress already made in reducing waiting lists across both services.