National Burns Centre opens but short of three surgeons

New Zealand's National Burns Centre, which opens in south Auckland today, is expected to produce better, faster results for patients than the existing, dilapidated facilities.

But the new unit at Middlemore Hospital, to have 12 beds eventually, will take some time to reach full speed because of a shortage of surgeons.

As well as taking patients with the worst, most complex burns from anywhere in the country it replaces the existing Auckland-Northland regional burns centre.

The general manager of surgical and ambulatory care, Chris Fleming, said the unit was a great advance on the present facilities, which were old and run down.

Prompt and aggressive treatment of the kind planned for the new unit had been shown internationally to lead to a higher chance of patient survival and quicker recovery, he said.

But getting the unit fully functioning has been hindered by difficulties finding enough burns surgeons. The hospital has two plastic surgeons who also sub-specialise in burns, but wants four and preferably five, who would divide their time between burns care and plastic surgery.

A third arrives in December, from Canada, for eight months. "We will be putting a lot of effort into encouraging him to stay," said Mr Fleming.

The $7.2 million burns centre will be the national facility for treating "complex" burns. This mainly refers to patients with burns to more than 30 per cent of their body, but also includes those with severe burns to the face and certain other parts of the body and children with major burns.

Complex burns are considered among the most severe forms of trauma. Patients with them have unique needs in wound management, infection control and rehabilitation, making it unsatisfactory to care for them on a general ward.

The two children's rooms are intended to minimise the impact of the repeated painful procedures patients with severe burns must endure.

Hospital play specialist Robyn Maria said this was part of the coping-therapies approach used with young patients. Muted colours were selected to calm children; and medical monitors were mounted on arms so they could be seen easily by staff but were less conspicuous to young patients.

"It's the way the bed is positioned, it's where the windows are, it's where parent space is so children can see their parent closely and clearly."

Mr Fleming said Middlemore was already a kind of national referral centre, but was limited in the patients it could accept from the other burns facilities, in Waikato, Hutt Valley and Christchurch.

Once it had four surgeons, Middlemore was expected to take all the country's complex burns cases - about 30 a year - unless overloaded.

Plans were being discussed with Australian hospitals, where patients might be sent in the event of a disaster with which New Zealand burns centres were unable to cope.