Doctors say Blenheim's Wairau Hospital emergency department is near collapse
Senior doctors at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim, New Zealand, say staff shortages have pushed its emergency department to the brink of collapse, RNZ and 1News reported. The department has eight senior doctors, which they say is too few. Health New Zealand said it is hiring more permanent staff.
Senior emergency doctors at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim, New Zealand, say long-running staff shortages are putting patients at risk and have left the department on the brink of collapse, RNZ and 1News reported.
The emergency department has eight senior doctors, RNZ and 1News reported. Its roster was built for 11.4 full-time senior doctors, 1News reported. Emergency specialist Dr Nikki Rolton said the department was at least three doctors short, RNZ reported, and the senior doctors' union said it should have at least 12.
Rolton said that without change, "to be perfectly honest — patients may die," 1News reported. She said yearly patient numbers had grown from about 17,000 when she started in 2018 to about 22,000, RNZ reported.
Some shifts are left uncovered when no locum or extra doctor can be found, RNZ and 1News reported. A junior doctor working overnight now often sees 10 to 15 patients, compared with five or six on a busy night in 2018, Rolton said, according to RNZ.
The hospital is far from larger centers, and a helicopter crew was recently kept on standby at a cost of 60,000 New Zealand dollars so that pregnant women could be flown out during a shortage of obstetricians, RNZ reported.
Health New Zealand said it was taking the concerns seriously and hiring more permanent staff, RNZ and 1News reported. A regional Health New Zealand director denied that the department was on the brink of collapse, RNZ and 1News reported. He said people should still go to the hospital when they need emergency care, RNZ reported. Health New Zealand said the department is budgeted for 9.2 full-time-equivalent staff, with a 0.8 vacancy that it is recruiting for, RNZ reported.
What we know: Senior doctors at Wairau Hospital say the emergency department is badly understaffed, and Health New Zealand says it is recruiting.
What we don't: How soon new permanent doctors will start, and whether the gaps will be filled before summer.
Where outlets agree RNZ and 1News report that senior doctors say Wairau Hospital's emergency department is badly understaffed, with eight senior doctors, and that Health New Zealand says it is hiring.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.