Patients in west Auckland must wait for 24/7 care

Photo / Greg Bowker

New doctors who faced unexpected immigration visa delays and injuries have forced round-the-clock emergency services at Waitakere Hospital to be put back until mid-June.

The arrival of three new doctors was delayed - one faced set-backs securing a visa, the second stayed longer than first planned with another district health board (DHB) and a third suffered a broken limb. Another employee had resigned and one job offer had fallen through.

Waitakere residents would have to wait until mid-June for 24-hour opening of their hospital's emergency department, which was due to start on Monday.

The hospital's emergency department would continue to close for new adult patients from 10pm to 8am until mid-June.

Outside those hours, patients could go to the emergency departments at Auckland City or North Shore hospitals, or pay to go to their nearest accident and medical clinic.

Waitemata DHB was disappointed and frustrated it could not start the service as planned, chairman Lester Levy said.

"On advice of our chief medical officer, we decided that it would be imprudent to proceed without sufficient medical staff," he said.

"Following the expansion of Waitakere's emergency department opening hours and the introduction of 24-7 emergency services for children last year, the service for adults would have completed the delivery on our commitment to have a 24 hours a day, seven days a week emergency service for people in west Auckland.

"We will still realise this commitment in June but simply opening the service now without adequate medical staffing could be doing more harm than good."

- NZPA