Capacity concerns for new ED

Senior medical staff at Taranaki Base Hospital are concerned the emergency department in the new $300 million wing will not be able to cope in 20 years.

A letter obtained under the Official Information Act (OIA) show Senior Medical Officers raised concerns on October 17 about the number of bed spaces being determined by the Ministry of Health based on Census information.

The current emergency department (ED) has 21 beds while the new ED, which is part of stage two of the hospital’s redevelopment, Project Maunga, is expected to open in 2023 and will have 38 beds, as well as a 20-bed acute assessment unit.

However, a letter from representatives of the ED Senior Medical Officers in the Project Maunga User Group outlined concerns they had that this was not sufficient.

The letter states the current ED suffers from ‘‘access block nearly everyday’’. Access block is a situation where patients in ED are unable to gain access to appropriate hospital beds within a reasonable time frame, resulting in ED overcrowding.

The letter goes on to state that the ‘‘thought of marginally increasing the numbers from our current size is of legitimate concern’’.

‘‘We do not want to build an ED to handle the patient presentations for 2019, we want to have this be sufficient to care for the presentations in 2038 and beyond.’’

In an emailed statement, Taranaki

District Health Board (TDHB) chief operating officer Gillian Campbell said the number of beds in the new ED plans had not changed since October when the letter was sent. She believed the new hospital wing included robust forecasting for patient presentations in future years.

‘‘Following concerns being raised by a staff member we have worked with the ED leadership team to address these concerns; this has included progressing how the ED and Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) will work. Detailed design of the ED and

AAU is still in planning phase at this stage.’’

Over the past three years patients visiting ED each day have increased by one person per day, per year. In 2017 an average of 91 patients presented to ED per day. In 2018 it was 92, and in the year to date it has been 93. In 2018 approximately 34,000 people went through ED at Taranaki Base Hospital.

Campbell said the new ED will have 38 beds for patients that need immediate treatment.

Plans for the new ED are set to be finalised by September 2020.