New hospital hiring private theatres

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

The new Auckland City Hospital has started hiring a private hospital operating theatre when unable to cope with an overload of patients.

Several months ago it sub-contracted health insurer Southern Cross' Brightside Hospital in Epsom to remove the gall bladders of about 100 non-urgent "elective" patients.

Then last week, during a rush of patients needing urgent treatment, it hired a Brightside theatre for an Auckland City Hospital general surgeon and anaesthetist to do eight more elective operations, four each on Tuesday and Thursday.

An Auckland Hospital study last year by the head of orthopaedic trauma, Bruce Twaddle, showed that many of its acute orthopaedic patients waited longer for surgery than they should under clinical guidelines.

Auckland District Health Board managers reprimanded him last month after he stated publicly that orthopaedic resources continued to be too limited at the new hospital and that this was compromising patient care. They withdrew the censure after an outcry, mainly by doctors.

Auckland City Hospital's general manager, Meng Cheong, said that on two days last week there were high numbers of major orthopaedic and other acute surgery cases which forced the postponement of 30 elective surgery cases.

The old Auckland Hospital was the first to shift into the new Auckland City Hospital, last month. Green Lane Hospital is moving now and National Women's is likely to shift next June.

Mr Cheong said the new hospital's theatres were not yet up to full capacity.

Hiring a private facility and its theatre staff was more expensive than doing the operations at Auckland City Hospital, he said, but it helped to reduce elective surgery delays and would be repeated.

A Brightside theatre has been booked for today in case it is needed.

The senior doctors' union cautiously supports the use of private facilities, but only short-term.

Ian Powell, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said it should not be a substitute for district health boards' ensuring their hospitals had enough capacity to cope with demand.