Capital and Coast DHB booking error deletes C-section appointments

Women in Wellington have had their caesarean section procedures delayed after an electronic system deleted their bookings. Photo / 123RF

By Ben Strang of RNZ

Women in Wellington have had their caesarean section procedures delayed after an electronic system deleted their bookings.

Capital and Coast District Health Board provider services director Joy Farley said there had been one or two occasions where elective caesarean section bookings had disappeared from the electronic system.

"While our ICT department is re-building the electronic diary to ensure that bookings are not erased, the service has a physical diary in place to cross-reference the upcoming appointments.

"Where a procedure could not be done on the day due to the booking system issue or patient volumes, the procedure has been rescheduled for a later date - generally within the next day or so."

Farley said the issue was isolated to one particular electronic booking system, within the one service.

Once it had been identified, staff immediately started working on a fix.

"Bookings prioritise women based on their level of clinical need," Farley said.

"Anyone who requires urgent or acute care receives it as needed. We apologise to any women who have been inconvenienced."

- RNZ