{"id":136620,"date":"2025-11-15T16:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/136620\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T16:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:32:18","slug":"rats-leaks-and-overcrowding-show-need-for-whangarei-hospital-redevelopment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/136620\/","title":{"rendered":"Rats, leaks and overcrowding show need for Whang\u0101rei Hospital redevelopment"},"content":{"rendered":"

NZ Nurses Organisation delegate Chantelle Thompson said the surgical ward on which she worked was so crammed that a room known as \u201cthe cupboard\u201d was used as a contingency space for patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The room was used to store items, which had to be covered up before a small bed was squeezed in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The patient needed to be relatively well because attachments such as an IV drip would not fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not ideal to have a patient in there … but for the hospital flow of patients and meeting capacity<\/a>, we\u2019re putting people in there.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine how degrading it is for a patient because we\u2019ve got nowhere to put them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Other delegates had raised issues with leaking roofs<\/a>, including one instance in which a rotted part of a ceiling fell on a patient.<\/p>\n

\"NursesNurses Organisation delegate Chantelle Thompson, pictured during a 2024 strike, says Whang\u0101rei Hospital is so cramped that a store room is sometimes used for patients. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Another NZ Nurses Organisation delegate, Rachel Thorn, said the hospital emergency department (ED) where she worked had not increased in size since 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over that time, Northland\u2019s population has grown<\/a> 24%, from 162,500 in 2011 to 201,100 in 2025.<\/p>\n

To cope with the added load, extra beds were squeezed in between existing beds, Thorn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis affects patient care, it affects privacy and affects the ability of family and wh\u0101nau to be there with their family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [nurses] need to be able to get around patients and get to medications. We manage, but it\u2019s hard<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her biggest issue was the lack of staff in the busy ED, where an overload of patients often triggered a Code Red<\/a> alert.<\/p>\n

\"NZNZ Nurses Organisation members across New Zealand, including those at Whang\u0101rei Hospital, have been striking since last year over safe staffing levels. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got enough staff, you can enjoy it and feel like you\u2019re giving good patient care. If you\u2019re understaffed, you\u2019re just racing around under pressure<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NZ Nurses Organisation T\u014dp\u016btanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa will hold partial strikes for two weeks later this month to highlight unsafe staffing levels<\/a> nationwide, with staff refusing to accept redeployment to another ward, extra hours or roster changes.<\/p>\n

\u2018We know we need new buildings,\u2019 Health NZ says<\/p>\n

Health NZ knew Whang\u0101rei Hospital needed a new acute services building and ward tower<\/a>, said Te Tai Tokerau group director of operations Alex Pimm.<\/p>\n

Both were being designed and expected to open in 2031, though the 158-bed ward tower was not yet funded<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Efficiencies could be gained, and more contractors would be interested, if the two buildings were done at the same time, he said.<\/p>\n

\"HealthHealth NZ Te Tai Tokerau group director of operations Alex Pimm says both a new acute services building and a ward tower are needed at Whang\u0101rei Hospital. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

But until those buildings opened, staff had to work in an environment that was not ideal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t deny it\u2019s going to be a challenge within the next five or six years. There will be minor, tactical work to ensure that we can cope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planned changes include an outpatient upgrade<\/a>, a new integrated operations centre in the former laboratory and a boiler replacement, announced by Health Minister Simeon Brown in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As many outpatient clinics as possible would be moved off campus to save the hospital for the most acute cases, Pimm said.<\/p>\n

Ongoing maintenance was also being done, including replacing roofs if needed and if possible.<\/p>\n

Pest management was taken seriously, with controls in place and regular monitoring to ensure health and safety protocols were met.<\/p>\n

\"AA 2022 artist’s impression of the Whang\u0101rei Hospital redevelopment shows a modern, new building.<\/p>\n

Nursing support available across the hospital, Pimm says<\/p>\n

Pimm said Health NZ took staffing seriously, using a Care Capacity Demand Management tool to ensure there were enough clinical staff on each shift for the number of patients.<\/p>\n

At Whang\u0101rei Hospital, a \u201cvariance response team\u201d was created to ensure a small group of nurses could work in whichever ward they were needed most.<\/p>\n

Recruitment was also underway, with a focus on New Zealand nurse graduates and overseas advertising for doctors.<\/p>\n

He was unable to provide recent figures but, in August, Health NZ was recruiting more than 4000 fulltime-equivalent health workforce roles and hired 1700 people.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NZ Nurses Organisation delegate Chantelle Thompson said the surgical ward on which she worked was so crammed that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,22509,72088,93283,21818,2082,2241,3274,296,6857,33070,5971,111,43,139,69,49189,6293,15323,1233,68302,1305,9636,2735,7069,1869],"class_list":["post-136620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-areas","tag-ceiling","tag-crammed","tag-desperate","tag-for","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-into","tag-leaking","tag-leaks","tag-need","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overcrowding","tag-patients","tag-rats","tag-redevelopment","tag-roofs","tag-show","tag-spotted","tag-store","tag-theatre","tag-whangrei"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}