Concern that MRI 'voucher' allows patients to skip waitlist

There is concern that patients are effectively being offered the chance to "buy" their way up the public wait list for MRI scans. Hundreds of patients in the Greater Wellington Region are being offered petrol payments to travel out of the district to get the diagnostic procedure faster. While Health New Zealand says the scheme is giving patients the option to be seen quicker, the senior doctor's union is worried it will offer an advantage to people with vehicles who can afford to take off time to travel. Capital and Coast group director of operations Jamie Duncan spoke to Lisa Owen.