Nelson Hospital review reveals staffing and infrastructure challenges

Persistent delays in recruiting medical staff for Nelson Hospital are worsened by ageing infrastructure and rising demand. Photo / Tracy Neal

By Samantha Gee of RNZ

Persistent delays in recruiting medical staff for Nelson Hospital have been compounded by ageing infrastructure and increasing demand for services, a review of the hospital has found.

The review – released on Wednesday – comes after senior doctors publicly raised their longstanding concerns over staffing and patient-safety woes, which had led to waitlists blowing out and, in some cases, people waiting months for treatment at the hospital.

Health New Zealand flew senior clinicians to Nelson in April to look further into the issues that had been raised.

The report has been released publicly this afternoon, and its findings have been accepted.

Health New Zealand national chief medical officer Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard said a plan would be put in place to address clinical issues, access to treatment, workforce vacancies and infrastructure constraints.

It would be overseen by Health New Zealand Te Waipounamu deputy chief executive Martin Keogh.

The executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Sarah Dalton, said the review failed to hold Health NZ to account, months after issues were raised, and was little more than a “plan to make a plan”.

“The review lacks timeframes, holds no leaders to account for these failures. Just last month, Nelson Hospital was again in the news for booking ‘ghost clinics’ in what appears to be an attempt to game the system in regard to first specialists’ appointments numbers.”

There was a “worrying trend of poor management and poor leadership at Nelson Hospital, which the review fails to address”, and it was a wasted opportunity to make positive change, Dalton said.

The association was disappointed that there had been little engagement with hospital staff and no consultation on the review’s recommendations and findings.

The hospital, like many others around the country, simply needed more doctors, Dalton said.

“Short staffing and increased acute patient demand, coupled with a lack of accountability from our health leaders that allow hospitals to be so poorly staffed, has bred a culture of getting by instead of getting ahead,” she said.

Stokes-Lampard said the proposed action plan would examine high-risk specialties including vascular and obstetrics/gynaecology, improve access to first specialist appointments, reduce wait times for surgery and emergency department care, develop a plan for implementing a sustainable medical workforce and address long-term vacancies and infrastructure constraints.

She said that alongside the action plan, planning was under way for a temporary inpatient ward to be built within the next 12 months, before a purpose-built 128-bed inpatient unit by 2029.

There were also plans to install a radiation therapy machine at Nelson Hospital by 2029, so patients would no longer have to travel outside the region for radiation treatment.

Several other recent initiatives were cited as having improved outcomes for patients and staff, including the recently opened ophthalmology outpatient facility, paediatric outpatient facility and dialysis building.

The refurbishment of the hospital’s acute mental health facility, Wāhi Oranga, was nearing completion, and the expansion of the emergency department was on track for 2026.

Staff and unions would be kept informed as the report’s recommendations were implemented, Stokes-Lampard said.

While the review was focused on Nelson Hospital, its lessons would also inform wider improvements across New Zealand’s healthcare system, she said.

-RNZ