A leaked email says Nelson Hospital emergency department was lacking senior staff yesterday — with a contingency plan for a "major incident" to be declared if it became overwhelmed.
In response, Health New Zealand said in a statement there were no issues overnight and one of the regular ED doctors worked an extra shift.
The email, sent on Wednesday, noted an "advance warning that today in ED we have capacity constraints that increase patient risk this afternoon". 1News has not identified the author of the email but it appeared to be from a hospital staffer to colleagues.
The email listed bed block as one reason for capacity issues, which was when patients remained in the emergency department because there weren't beds available on wards.
1News reported on June 14 that seven patients were waiting in ED due to high occupancy bought on by respiratory illnesses.
This week's email stated there would be no Senior Medical Officer or Residential Medical Officer staffing on "Wednesday PM". It said staff were working to try and cover sickness in those teams but "the ED may be lacking in senior staff this evening".
The writer starkly stated: "Insufficient ED staff have been employed by this hospital to provide cover for absences."
The email listed a contingency plan that outlined a "major incident will be declared if the ED is overwhelmed". Other contingencies included "no procedural sedation service or critical care procedures".
The email concluded: "If in the long run you’d like this to change please advocate for better ED staffing."
Health New Zealand's interim chief medical officer for Nelson Marlborough, Steve Low, said there were "no issues" overnight and one of the regular ED doctors worked an extra shift.
"We are not carrying significant vacancies in the Emergency Department. However, our sick leave levels are higher in the winter months due to the increase in circulating winter viruses. It’s not uncommon to be looking to cover staffing gaps at short notice for this reason".
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