Letter to the Editor Tuesday June 10, 2014

Doctors and nurses

At 2am this morning friends staying in our cottage for the weekend had to make an emergency dash to Kaitaia Hospital after their 2-year-old suffered an asthma attack. The little fellow had had a similar attack 12 months ago, so the parents knew what they were dealing with.

Their GPS directed them to Kaitaia Hospital, and on ringing the bell a nurse greeted them and took them through to the clinic. There was a doctor walking around in the clinic at the time. My friends were informed he was not available to take a look at their son, as he was at the hospital on a call-out.

She proceeded to examine the little feller and did put him on the nebuliser, but after further examination told the parents no, I don't think it's asthma, but his nose is a bit congested.

The parents were flabbergasted. They asked to see the doctor and were, once again, told in no uncertain terms the doctor was not available to see their son, even though, as even she acknowledged, they could see him walking around, and in fact, coming closer. The parents were told to bring their child back to the clinic at 10am when a doctor would be available to examine him.

Thank goodness for common sense and the hippocratic oath. The doctor himself came over and told them he would look at the child, and immediately diagnosed an asthma attack and quickly organised an inhaler and medication.

My friends were so grateful to the doctor for stepping in, and I would like to add my thanks to you (middle-aged, South African doctor) along with theirs. They were, however, far, far less than impressed with the attitude of the nurse.

This incident should have us all who live in the district more than a little concerned. Asthma attacks can happen at any time to anyone, and need to be treated appropriately. But this is only one of a plethora of emergencies that can inconveniently occur in the middle of the night. Next time a child might not be so lucky, or the doctor just might not be in earshot, or the nurse might make the same diagnostic mistake and the outcome could be tragic at worst, or extremely more stressful than need be at best.

As a community that has stood by and supported our hospital over the years when it has been threatened with closure, I think it might be time that the hospital now supported not only our most vulnerable, but all those who come to their door at night. I realise they can't call out doctors willy nilly, but surely, if there is a doctor on the premises at the time, the nurse should be able to involve him in an emergency consultation without hesitation. This is just plain common sense.

VIVIENNE CRAMOND

Tokerau Beach

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The Northland DHB responds:

Our standard procedure is to triage anyone who presents at the Accident and Medical Centre at Kaitaia Hospital. The triage determines if the case needs to be discussed with a GP or hospital doctor.

We are unclear about what happened this particular morning, and we are investigating this matter with the staff who were on that shift.

We encourage all feedback, as this helps us to continually improve our services. If you would like to provide us with feedback please email us on quality.feedback@northlanddhb.org.nz