Nelson Hospital ‘beyond breaking point’

More than 1000 people joined hands for Nelson Hospital on Saturday to send a message to the Government – patients, staff, and the community deserve better.

It followed three weeks of senior hospital staff speaking out about the dismal state of the hospital with dilapidated buildings and staff shortages resulting in overloaded waiting lists and compromised patient care.

The rally was organised by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), Public Service Association (PSA), and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

Toby Beesly, an organiser for PSA, says they have reached “crisis point” and Saturday’s march was an “exceptional” show of support from the community.

“A lot of the people there have been impacted by delays, waitlists, and the inability to get surgeries.”

One man at the rally said he had been waiting five years for a new hip, and it will still be nine months until he gets to see a specialist.

“The people that turned up were people who have a lot of skin in the game, and the fact that we got 1000 people in a small city like Nelson is unprecedented.”

Leaky and mouldy
Toby says the hospital is “falling apart”.

“Level seven, which is the top storey, is leaking. It has been for the last month. Some workers have had to move their desks because it was raining on their laptops.”

He also says there is “a lot” of mould through that particular building.

“The basement flooded again last week and has had to be locked off. The building’s not fit for purpose, and it’s making our people sick.”

There have also been reports of wasps in one of the surgical wards and “unbearable” 30-degree temperatures.

Understaffed and at-risk
In February this year, ASMS raised concerns about the hospital being made to operate without a medical registrar for six hours, due to understaffing.

On the same day, the emergency department was short-staffed, with no second senior medical officer on duty for several hours.

Ongoing staffing shortages putting patients and clinicians at risk was a concern raised at a crisis meeting with Te Whatu Ora Health NZ regional deputy chief executive Martin Keogh just a month earlier.

“We have advocated for years to get staffing to safe levels, yet the people of Nelson still have an under-staffed hospital,” says ASMS executive director Sarah Dalton.

Matt Shand, also from ASMS, says it’s “beyond breaking point”.

“Staff can only work overtime so long, work so many extra shifts, do so many extra hours before they burn out and quit. And when they quit, there’s another vacancy.

“There’s also a feeling that people are exhausted, that there is better work elsewhere overseas for them - and we just can’t afford to lose more of our people.”

The fight for a new hospital
NZNO delegate Amanda Field, who’s been an oncology nurse at Nelson Hospital for more than 25 years, says action is needed now.

“We are appealing to the Government for more funding, employing appropriate staffing numbers, and a specific commitment to building the new hospital.”

A government review of clinical hospital facilities in 2020 found the hospital’s George Manson Building to be the worst in the country.

In 2023, the previous Labour government signed off on a complete rebuild of Nelson Hospital. The $1.1 billion project included 255 beds, eight operating theatres, and a larger emergency department.

That was scrapped by the new National government, which instead announced a series of smaller ‘phased’ builds with a similar budget and included existing infrastructure. The business case and master plan for the redevelopment have not yet been released.

Amanda says local communities are feeling frustrated and worried that, despite promises, there’s still no sign of a new hospital.

“Cutting back on workers and prioritising the budget and targets not only raises health and safety risks for the treatment of vulnerable patients and exhausted staff but also leaves the building maintenance underfunded.

“Health and safety of patients and staff is paramount. Doctors and nurses are speaking out because they are primarily concerned about the health of this community, which they are all a part of.”

Health NZ investigate
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora has sent a team of specialists to Nelson to learn more about the issues and it’s expected a series of recommendations will be released in the coming weeks.

“We know that they’re looking into certain aspects of things that are occurring at Nelson Hospital, but the actual specifics aren’t known… we want to see the results of this made as public as possible,” Matt says.

“But the speed at which this team arrived makes me wonder, could they not have done this at any time? It’s a shame that it took this level of speaking out to have this happen.”

“They are in real damage control mode at the hospital,” Toby adds.

The fight continues
Toby says more events to raise awareness of the crisis at Nelson Hospital are in the pipeline.

“The main ask from the rally was for people to put down their feelings in writing to the health minister, Simeon Brown. The community has been clear that they want a new hospital, more staff, and that Nelson deserves better.”