Middlemore to open HDU after spending $1m refurbishing ward

Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland will today open a high dependency unit.

HDUs are increasingly common in New Zealand hospitals. The small units provide a level of care that is midway between that provided by a general ward and an intensive care unit.

Middlemore's HDU is sited next to the ICU in an existing ward that has been refurbished at a cost of more than $1 million.

It has six beds and will take patients too unstable for general ward care from the
emergency department and from the ICU, when patients have improved but are not ready for a ward.

The facility has been financed by the Counties Manukau District Health Board and many sponsors.

Board chief executive Geraint Martin said: "Our community needs and deserves world-class facilities. The high dependency unit is just another example of Middlemore Hospital meeting these standards."

The clinical director of Auckland City Hospital's intensive care unit, Dr Colin McArthur, said last night HDUs were increasingly common.

He understood the first HDU in Auckland was one for neurosurgery patients, established several decades ago.

"Patients with high-dependency needs are increasingly part of a modern acute hospital's workload. Many hospitals around New Zealand are extending their services in this area.

"The benefits are less certain. Although many clinical staff would see benefits on an individual patient level, when it's studied formally it's not so clear that there are benefits in terms of resources expended versus gains on a whole hospital or whole population basis."