Hundreds have gathered in Nelson today over ongoing concerns about staffing at Nelson Hospital and the impact wait times are having on patients.
Nelson has the worst wait times in the country for first specialist assessments. While there are 7297 people waiting for an assessment or elective surgery in the region, 4120 are already waiting longer than the recommended four-month timeframe.
At the event today Daniel Walker told the crowd: “It is unforgivable and unacceptable and us as community we’re not going to take it anymore”.
Last year, Walker was meant to be seen at Nelson Hospital within two weeks but it took nine and his cancer spread. Health Minister Simeon Brown called his situation “regrettable” but Walker said it was avoidable.
Nelson Hospital nurse Amanda Field said the turnout shows the community wants better.
“They get safe care, they get great care, but they might not get the best care. And that’s what we want to give,” she said.
Health New Zealand has flown a senior team of clinicians into Nelson to get a handle on issues after doctors revealed to 1News their concerns about how patients were being impacted.
Dr Richard Sullivan said this week he was “very confident things will change” for the people of Nelson.
“I would hope we will have some answers within weeks, but the solutions are not going to be an easy fix,” he said.
‘No possible way’ leadership was unaware
One wrote of a “crisis in the Department of Medicine” as far back as 2013. (Source: 1News)
It comes after senior doctors revealed they had been privately raising concerns for months, if not years.
New emails released to 1News by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists give some details of the alarm bells being raised at the hospital.
Dr Katie Ben, the president of the union and an anaesthetist at Nelson Hospital, told 1News there “is no possible way that our current leadership does not know that these issues have been going on for some years”.
In 2013, a doctor wrote that there was a “crisis” in the Department of Medicine. They said: “patient care compromised due to inadequate staffing and facilities”.
Five years later, another doctor wrote: “The General Surgery Department is now in tatters due to lack of investment.”
As 1News reported last month, the Obstetrics and Gynecology department first started asking for more doctors in 2022 – an issue which has been raised repeatedly over the years. The department now has more than 1000 people on the wait list.
Last year, a urologist wrote to management four times with their concerns, saying “patients are now 6-12 months overdue for their cancer follow-up appointments”. They went on to use the example of a patient who was “… diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer six months late”.
Issues becoming more apparent over time
1News got an exclusive look into their heavy workload and limited resources. (Source: 1News)
Dr Ben said since she started at the hospital 16 years ago doctors, have been raising issues, but the issues have got more apparent over time.
“We’ve been raising these issues with our current leadership team, with their predecessors, and with their predecessors,” she said.
Figures show the number of staff working at Nelson Hospital has increased in recent years, but there have been some long-term vacancies which have been unable to be filled. The number and complexity of patients has increased too.
Another ongoing issue is a lack of a second on-call anaesthetist.
In the emails, staff raised an incident from more than four years ago where a person was in surgery after an accident, but a woman needed an emergency C-section.
The emails state: “8 anaesthetists were attempted to be contacted with no success”. The email goes on: “A delay of one hour resulted… could have resulted in disastrous consequences”.
Dr Perry Turner loves orthopedic surgery and says he thought he’d retire at Nelson Hospital. (Source: 1News)
Dr Ben has told 1News previously that she thinks it’s not a case of if, but when, someone will die as a result of this issue.
“We have absolute categories of delivery where the baby has to be delivered within a certain timeframe and on occasion, we are unable to meet those timeframes because we only have one anaesthetist and they are already busy doing something else,” Dr Ben said.
Health New Zealand’s deputy chief executive Martin Keogh told 1News in statement that the situation at Nelson Hospital was being taken very seriously.
“We are aware of Nelson Hospital’s long-standing issues and staff concerns. We already have a range of initiatives underway, and more to come, to help alleviate pressure on our staff so they can continue to provide quality care for our community.”
Around 700 elective surgeries or treatments have been outsourced already to private hospitals in Nelson, and there is work already underway to address some of the issues.
Health New Zealand has said previously they are bringing doctors to Nelson from Blenheim to help, as well as plans to carry out some procedures in outpatient clinics, rather than using up theatre time.
