The Health Minister must explain why after years of concerns from nurses about Christchurch Hospital’s barely functioning dialysis unit, he only stepped in late yesterday when life-saving treatment had to be rationed, NZNO says.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Chief Executive Paul Goulter says NZNO members have been raising concerns about the dilapidated and cramped dialysis unit for "a number of years".
"These issues have been well-known by hospital leadership. In their most recent letter, (attached) NZNO members warned ‘the current conditions pose a serious risk to both patient safety and staff wellbeing’.
"The mouldy and leaking unit has never been refurbished and increasing demand last month forced the Clinical Director to write to patients saying life-saving dialysis would have to be rationed," Paul Goulter says.
"However, it was only yesterday when 1 News started asking looking into the issue that Simeon Brown stepped in and ordered more staff for the unit.
"Questions remain unaddressed about how the new staff will fit in the unit which is so tiny there is no room for existing staff to even leave their bags in their workspace.
"The Minister’s announcement was so rushed it seemed to catch Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury off guard.
"Simeon Brown claims to put patients first and values nurses. If this is true, he should listen to health workers rather than manage the public health sector based on the 6pm television news bulletin," Paul Goulter says.