Hospital admits it let parents down

Wellington Hospital has accepted it could have communicated better with parents about a deadly bacteria outbreak in its neonatal unit.

"I admit communications could have been better and we look to improving that as we mature," Wellington Hospital Microbiologist Mark Jones said.

Some parents of vulnerable babies have expressed disappointment they were not told until last week the outbreak of a new aggressive strain of staphylococcus aureus had killed three infants in the unit.

Three dozen babies have been affected by the bacteria since January with eight infants remaining in isolation.

Fifteen nurses from the unit were infected, with six remaining off work yesterday.

Parents of vulnerable babies who became infected were told immediately of the outbreak, Dr Jones said.

When babies had "a little spot" indicating a potential staphylococcus infection they were put on antibiotics.

"Are we served well by telling people what the bug was and where it might have come from? I don't know."

The unit is assessing each new admission on an individual basis and says it may limit patients to those from the Wellington area.

Babies were turned away from neonatal units for many reasons, Dr Jones said.

Each hospital had different equipment and specialist knowledge for different neonatal conditions. Neonatal doctors checked an internet site daily to see how bed space and medical needs could be shuffled and had implemented standard infection control guidelines to control the outbreak, he said.

- NZPA