“Then on Saturday morning, she texts, we’ve been told there are no showers till Monday because there are no towels.”
Cruickshank said she phoned the clinical co-ordinator to check.
“[The clinical coordinator] said, ‘Yeah, we are currently out of towels, but we’re trying to source some.’”
Cruickshank said she was then given the go-ahead to bring her own towels for staff to use to shower her mother.
“So it just seems like a really bizarre thing.”
Cruickshank said she had no trouble taking in some fresh towels, but her concern was for those who couldn’t access personal help.
“There’s a whole lot of other people in there that don’t have family. [And] You may not know that, apparently, you need to provide towels when you’re in a hospital nowadays.”
Towels were in short supply at Waikato Hospital. Photo / 123rf
In a statement, Health New Zealand and Te Whatu Ora acting group director of operations for Waikato, Rachel Swain, confirmed there was a “temporary towel shortage” in the Older Persons Rehabilitation (OPR) ward, but said it was an isolated incident on December 27 and resolved within 24 hours.
“[The towel shortage] occurred due to an unforeseen operational issue that resulted in available emergency linen being depleted,” Swain said.
Swain said the duty nurse manager sourced towels from other hospital areas and the issue was escalated to the hospital’s linen provider, with the shortage “resolved within 24 hours”.
“The shortage was isolated to OPR and did not impact other wards,” Swain said.
“Patient care, hygiene, and access to showers were maintained during this time. There are no current linen supply issues at Waikato Hospital.”
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.