Report from RNZ
Wellington Hospital is short about 30 beds and urgently needs more operating theatres. That’s the message from the Capital and Coast District Health Board’s director of planning and performance, Rachel Haggerty.
She said the board has largely caught up on the backlog caused by last year’s lockdown but further problems loom with a shortage of beds and operating theatres, and operations may be delayed.
Haggerty said Capital and Coast has spent $6 million more than was budgeted on outsourcing operations to private hospitals.
A union for doctors and dentists is warning that all DHBs are at a tipping point, caused by entrenched short staffing and underfunding.