Canterbury DHB confirms part of new hospital will not open due to lack of funds

Fit outs at the Christchurch Hospital. Photo / Simon Rogers

By Meriana Johnsen, Phil Pennington, RNZ

A Canterbury Māori health leader and former deputy board chair of the Canterbury DHB is outraged the region's deficit-laden DHB has built a new emergency care unit for children but cannot afford to staff it.

Senior doctors have been told this new unit, and two others, will remain largely unused when the new Hagley hospital block opens, due to funding pressure.

RNZ inquiries have revealed there is no money to staff either the emergency department or a high-care or intensive care unit for children, or an ED observation unit for adults, at Hagley.

Former Canterbury DHB deputy chair Tā Mark Solomon, who finished up in November 2019, said he was outraged there was not money to fund staff in the new units.

"I mean, this is the first time I've heard this but I find that ludicrous," he said.

"The simple reality is if that the whole hospital Hagley was to open, it gives Canterbury about 10 more beds than they had before the earthquake but we've got a population in the excess of 70,000 more than we had back then, and we're not going to open them because there's no budgeting - that's ridiculous."

He said the Canterbury DHB was not far off from being "thrown into chaos" because the hospital services were not meeting the rapidly growing population.

A top paediatric physician Professor Stuart Dalziel of Starship Hospital's ED and chair of child health research at Auckland University said not opening the units would hit those with the worst health the hardest.

"Māori, Pacific and children from the most deprived parts of our society present more frequently to our emergency department than other children, and these children deserve a level of care and a space for that care to be delivered in that is actually appropriate to paediatric and appropriate to child health."

DHB confirms some areas won't be used

Canterbury DHB confirmed on Thursday afternoon that some new areas in Christchurch Hospital Hagley would not be used immediately when it opens in November.

Its chief executive David Meates said services would not be provided for the new Children's Emergency Care facilities, despite the fact they are "superb and have been designed to support best practice".

Instead, he said these services would be provided in the Emergency Department alongside adult patients, which was "far from ideal".

"With regard to the children's high care unit area associated with the intensive care unit, I would like to stress children will continue to get the care they need," he said.

The decision not to open parts of Hagley hospital would be reviewed by management after three months of those working in the new facility to assess patient flows, admission rates, time spent in the emergency department and both consumer and clinician feedback, Meates said.

"Avoiding additional costs is one of the strategies we are using in the short which is why it's important to review the impact after the first few months of being in Hagley."