The Te Kotuku Maternity Unit at Whangārei Hospital will see major development with the addition of the special care baby unit to its facility. Photo / Liz Inch
The Te Kotuku Maternity Unit at Whangārei Hospital will see major development with the addition of the special care baby unit to its facility. Photo / Liz Inch
New paediatric facilities and more beds for Whangārei Hospital are the highlights of today's new $65.3 million funding package for the Northland District Health Board.
In a Northern Advocate exclusive, the funding includes $48.2m for urgent works at the hospital, including relocation of the special care baby unit to theTe Kotuku Maternity Unit building, and the construction of a new floor in the same building containing 1000sq m of laboratory space.
The funding, announced by Health Minister Chris Hipkins, also addressed Whangārei Hospital's stretched capacity with as many as 50 new inpatient beds set to be delivered.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo / File
An acute assessment unit - a facility inside a hospital where patients were seen in a more intensive and efficient fashion than on the wards - would also be built through the funding.
"Services are under pressure at Whangārei Hospital and inpatient demand is at capacity," Hipkins said.
"While the [Northland District Health Board] works on the longer term project of a full redevelopment of the hospital, we need to make sure the needs of the community continue to be met."
The work at the hospital is due to start late next year with completion expected in 2023.
The remaining $17.1m will be used for a new regional collaborative community care solution - an IT system which will support better mental and primary care throughout the region.
The new system, set to be operational late next year, will allow people to view and update their health information, book appointments, interact with their care team and better access resources.
"The current IT platform which supports the delivery of mental health and community services is at risk of service disruption," Hipkins said.
"The new platform will be more integrated across community care settings and centred on patients and whānau. It will provide care closer to home, better care for people with complex needs and improve access for those who are hard to reach."
Today's funding was in addition to the $24m announced in 2018 for a now-open endoscopy suite, an increased theatre capacity and a cardiac catheterisation laboratory at Whangārei Hospital - as well as $10m for building redevelopment work at Kaitaia Hospital announced in January.
Progress on the increased theatre capacity at Whangārei Hospital. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Northland DHB chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain said he was very pleased by the prospect of bringing the hospital's maternity unit and paediatrics together, and increasing the facility's accessibility.
"It makes so much sense to house these departments together so we can provide continuity of care for our whānau and their tamariki," he said.
Chamberlain estimated the need for health funding in Northland was one of the most dire in the country and said the funding addressed some of the urgent issues with Whangārei Hospital's facilities
Today's funding was an interim measure while the NDHB and the Ministry of Health discussed the complete redevelopment of Whangārei Hospital.
Northland District Health Board chief executive Dr Nick Chamberlain (centre). Photo / File
Chamberlain said he understood the business case submitted for the redevelopment had been supported by the Ministry's capital investment committee and he was awaiting endorsement from Hipkins.
Speaking to the Northern Advocate last week, NDHB chief medical officer Dr Mike Roberts said the ability to accelerate the rate of patient discharge was severely hindered by not having an acute assessment unit - also known as a medical assessment unit (MAU) - in Northland.
A recent report which analysed data from across Northland's hospitals in the last year, cited how the length of time a patient stayed in hospital (Acute Relative Stay Index) was seven per cent longer at Northland hospitals when compared with those of a similar size.
Northland District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Mike Roberts. Photo / Tania Whyte
Given a patient in the MAU would be seen sooner and more often by clinical staff - and therefore be more likely to be discharged within 24 hours of arrival - Roberts was confident this resource would decrease lengths of stay.
"When I see these lengths of stay, I know that if we had a MAU, they would be better, there are just no two ways about it."
According to Roberts, every similar-sized New Zealand hospital, compared with Whangārei, had a MAU and the NDHB had been petitioning for one to be built since 2012.
