Cut over, hospitals prepare for strike

Auckland City Hospital had to turn away non-urgent cases from the emergency department.

Auckland City Hospital had to turn away non-urgent cases from the emergency department.
Auckland City and Middlemore Hospitals expect to resume normal services today after the power cut forced the closure of all but the emergency and maternity departments.

The disruption came three days before a threatened strike by junior doctors, which is already forcing the cancellation of surgery.

Yesterday the two public hospitals cancelled elective surgery, while people with non-urgent conditions were turned away from emergency departments.

Some elective surgery today and tomorrow will still be postponed as hospitals prepare to cope with drastically reduced staffing should junior doctors push ahead with their strike on Thursday.

Auckland District Health Board spokeswoman Fleur King said the power cut also forced the cancellation of some appointments at Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre.

All cancelled appointments would be rescheduled, but the timing would depend on the strike.

During the power cut Auckland City's emergency department turned away 10 patients after their cases were assessed as non-urgent.

Ms King said that all patients were safe and well-cared-for during the power cut when the hospital used back-up generators.

Dot McKeen, Counties Manukau's acute services manager, said Middlemore's emergency department worked normally using an emergency generator. Only a small number of appointments had to be cancelled.

Power was restored by the middle of the afternoon. North Shore and Waitakere Hospitals were not affected by the cut, although some patients still had their scheduled surgeries cancelled in anticipation of the strike.

Hospitals will have to cope with drastically reduced staff numbers should junior doctors go ahead with the strike.

The district health boards and the union representing the doctors met yesterday in a bid to avert strike action and talks will resume today.

People are urged to restrict emergency department visits to actual emergencies, and to see their GP or local accident and medical clinic for non-urgent injuries or illnesses.