Hawke's Bay Hospital ICU training accreditation withdrawn due to infrastructure challenges

The withdrawal of training accreditation to Hawke's Bay Hospital's intensive care unit is not because of the care given patients or training of registrars. Photo / File

The College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand has withdrawn training accreditation to Hawke's Bay Hospital's intensive care unit due to infrastructure challenges.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board acting chief medical and dental officer Michael Park said training accreditation was withdrawn because of the physical infrastructure issues of the unit, not because of the quality of training or patient care.

Park, an intensive care specialist, said losing training accreditation would not affect the current intake of registrars in the unit, but would affect the next intake of trainees in 2022.

He added that the College had made it clear that this was not a quality of care or training issue.

"The College acknowledges the level of commitment from the dedicated ICU team who have worked hard to provide training along with a high standard of patient care despite the infrastructure challenges of the unit," he said.

"We are working hard to overcome the physical infrastructure challenges and have a solution, we believe, we can begin work on quite quickly, which management has supported."

Patient care is not affected by the withdrawal of training accreditation, and the unit will continue to support the rest of Hawke's Bay Hospital as it currently does.

Park said the DHB is working closely with the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand and looking to find an interim accreditation solution, so training could continue.

A report will go to the board for sign-off once costings had been finalised, which is expected to be within the next two weeks.

Park said he wanted to thank the College for enabling the team to look to find a workable solution.

"We are working hard to meet the standards set by the College for training, ensuring the continuation of high-quality patient care while at the same time realising the need for an interim solution until a permanent resolution is found as Hawke's Bay DHB works on its long-term capital plan," he added.

The union has also been advised.