Hospital buildings flawed
Major flaws in electrical infrastructure at Christchurch’s hospitals have been uncovered in a damning report into the state of the country’s medical buildings.
The findings lay bare the extent of the problems with the nation’s hospitals, with a number revealed as having buildings with critical infrastructure already beyond their suitable lifespan.
Engineering experts found a litany of problems at Christchurch, from a poorly performing water system and sprinklers to sub-par fire protection, concerns over asbestos and seismically inadequate cladding panels.
It comes as Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is pushing ahead with a cheaper option upgrade as part of a major rebuild project at Christchurch Hospital, despite warnings from senior doctors that it will be inadequate.
The first stage includes a $500m two-tower Hagley Building, which will be open two years later than first promised when it is finally handed over to the health board in August.
Modelling done by the CDHB shows the hospital campus won’t have enough beds to cover demand by next year and clinicians argue the hospital urgently needs another two towers.
Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust founder and former surgeon Phil Bagshaw said the report was a stark reminder of the inadequacies of the public health system.
‘‘Yet again we find we are building public hospitals that are too small to meet the needs of the public and we are investing inadequately in maintaining them,’’ he said.
‘‘The result is the DHB is forced to pay for large amounts of treatment in private hospitals to meet the needs. This is an abuse of taxpayers money.’’
The survey – the National Asset Management Programme for district health boards – was published this month and carried out for the Ministry of Health by Beca, which assessed 166 buildings at 31 DNC campuses. It reveals parts of Christchurch Hospital’s Riverside building are so bad they are barely
serviceable and likely to fail in the short-term. Sprinklers, hot water and cold water and medical gas distribution were all found to be substandard, while engineers also uncovered poor passive fire protection and known asbestos issues. Concerns were also raised about seismic issues for some cladding panels.
The Parkside building had several issues with its heating, ventilation and air conditioning, it had similar water and gases problems and its interior was deemed average. Throughout Christchurch Hospital’s buildings the electrical infrastructure is beyond its life, while mechanical distribution pipes are nearing their end of life.
‘‘Further significant expenditure is required,’’ the report concluded.
Hillmorton Hospital also had a number of infrastructure problems, with asbestos in cladding panels at the 1974 Tupuna Villas, sub-standard switchboards and water plumbing reticulation and similar electrical and mechanical infrastructure.
At its May meeting the DHB approved a smaller and substantially cheaper plan for a third tower than it originally wanted.
According to its minutes, the board approved a $154m plan for a five-storey tower. Only two storeys would be fitted out with wards with the other three floors remaining as shells until more money became available.
The plan has been sent to the Ministry of Health’s Capital Investment Committee for approval and the DHB expects a decision ‘‘in due course’’.
Health Minister David Clark told RNZ he had not received the plan for sign off yet.
The board had originally requested a $437.78m plan for a six-storey tower three, a design for tower four and a minimal refurbishment of the Parkside building. The new cheaper plan does not include tower four or Parkside.
‘‘The board, while accepting the capital constraints for the sector is disappointed that only $150m has been allocated to this project ...
‘‘The Clinical Leaders Group did not support this option as they consider it does not provide the capacity required to deliver and sustain current service levels and impacts on the future configuration of the Christchurch Hospital Masterplan delivery.’’
The board requested more investment ‘‘within a short period of time’’ to ensure the agreed capacity needs are met.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Sarah Dalton said while the stocktake was a ‘‘good line in the sand’’ to expose the issues, it was ‘‘really concerning’’ that the DHB had approved a rebuild which was too small and not fit for purpose.
Board member Aaron Keown said he ‘‘100 per cent’’ supported the clinicians in demanding facilities they needed to run a fully functioning hospital, but said the DHB was forced to compromise by the lack of funding offered by the ministry. ‘‘We don’t have a health system that can cope with a pandemic so why would the Government not make that the first priority instead of going around the country asking for shovelready projects.
‘‘They should rebuild the hospitals and make the health system fit for purpose first and work backwards from there,’’ he said.
Clark told RNZ he would be seeking advice from the committee before signing off on the $150m plan for a third tower at Christchurch Hospital.