Middlemore not unique in shared rooms
Hospitals lack isolation space for patients awaiting Covid test results Bay of Plenty drags the vaccine chain
Alack of isolation facilities in hospitals means it’s a “reality” patients awaiting Covid tests will sometimes be put in a ward with other patients, a Nurse’s Union representative says.
This week one of Auckland’s main hospitals has been at the centre of two Covid scares — most recently after a patient walked out of the hospital before her Covid test came back positive, potentially exposing 36 other patients.
Earlier this week, a man at Middlemore tested positive for Covid-19, after being initially admitted for abdominal pain. A decision was made not to remove him from a ward with three other patients, while he was awaiting a Covid test result.
New Zealand Nurse’s Organisation (NZNO) Wellington representative Jo Coffey said hospital staff sometimes have no choice but to put suspected Covid cases in a ward with other patients.
The key to reopening our borders lies with the highest possible vaccination rates – but more than 500,000 Aucklanders are yet to get their jabs.
That equates to 35 per cent of the city’s eligible population, but it’s not as bad as Bay of Plenty where nearly half (47 per cent) of its residents remain unvaccinated.
Experts say there are a range of reasons why some have been slow to get their shots but with supplies now secure thanks to this week’s shipment from Spain, there is no shortage of vaccine.
University of Auckland professor in public health Dr Collin Tukuitonga said vaccination rates among Ma¯ori were still very low.
“Ma¯ori are not particularly finding the process of getting vaccinated easy and that’s why initiatives like Te Wha¯nau o Waipareira out in west Auckland make a difference but this takes time.
The availability of places to get vaccinated was still very restricted in some areas, Tukuitonga said.
“There is also an element of people who are hesitant or uncertain as well as hardcore antivaxxers ”
The fact that younger age groups had only recently become eligible for the vaccine was also contributing to the slow process, he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said there was a big focus on Auckland for the rollout, but the plan was for a national rollout.
He said there was no shortage of vaccine in Auckland – and emphasised that people could get a vaccination this weekend if they wanted to.
A surge in people getting vaccinated had come during alert level 4, when it was a major focus, Robertson said.
“That had dropped off a bit since most of New Zealand dropped to level 2,” he said.
The latest breakdown of each district’s vaccination coverage using the latest Ministry of Health data , as of 11.59pm on Tuesday can be revealed.
In the Auckland region, Counties Manukau DHB — which represented south Aucklanders — has the highest rates of fully vaccinated people — 37. 2 per cent, which equated to 179,807 people.
But the district’s progress seemed to be slowing, with 26.3 per cent having received one dose and
“When wards are full, they’ve got no choice but to put patients with suspected Covid in wards with other people — they did it in Wellington last time.
“If the beds are full, they have to put them somewhere, they can’t just put them back in the community.
“The problem is, for privacy reasons they can’t also disclose that to everyone else that’s in the ward with them.”
She said a patient awaiting a Covid test was not necessarily suspected to have Covid, and may have been deemed low risk.
“Just because you’ve had a Covid test doesn’t mean they think you have Covid,” she said.
“It’s not always that someone is coughing and spluttering and putting people at risk.”
Coffey said most hospitals were working with limited facilities. “People seem to think there’s all these negative-pressure rooms just sitting there waiting for people with suspected Covid — that’s not the reality.” 36.4 per cent (175,905 people) who remain unvaccinated.
In comparison, Auckland central had fewer people (34.9 per cent — 147,792 people) fully vaccinated but far fewer were unvaccinated (30.7 per cent — 129,966).
The remaining
34.5 per cent had received one dose of the vaccine.
Waitemata¯ DHB — representing people in north and west Auckland — had the lowest rates in the region and sat below the national average.
The number of fully vaccinated people in the Waitemata¯ district was 158,785 (30.2 per cent) — the national average was 33 per cent. And 37.5 per cent (197,388 people) were unvaccinated, with the remaining
Emergency departments in particular were not set up for isolating patients, she said.
Last month an ED nurse told the Herald Wellington ED did not have the space or facilities to manage a 32.3 per cent having received one dose.
A Waitemata¯ DHB spokeswoman said this was because the two other Aucklandbased DHBS started their vaccination programmes four to six weeks ahead of Waitemata¯ DHB, as the focus was on priority groups within their areas, such as border staff.
“There are no MIQ facilities, major ports or airports within the Waitemata¯ catchment, meaning vaccination began later in our district,” she said.
“If you were to compare our current progress, in line with the other metro Auckland DHBS four to six weeks ago, it would demonstrate that the Waitemata¯ vaccination
Covid outbreak, let alone the more infectious Delta strain. The designated isolated spaces of the ED did not have an area outside for staff to remove PPE, something Coffey said she had raised with the DHB. rate is ahead of the other metro Auckland DHBS,” the spokeswoman said.
Immunisation Advisory Centre director and GP Dr Nikki Turner, who advises the Government on vaccines, said from where it was a few months ago, Auckland had made huge progress — but there was still a long way to go.
“We are planning to ensure every New Zealander has this year been offered ease of access to a vaccine and when we have achieved that and feel like all communities have had fair access, then we have done everything we can,” Turner said.
She said it would be lovely to see more than 90 per cent of the country’s population vaccinated,
“They have a yellow line and they go out and just de-robe there,” she said. “There’s patients in corridors around them, and there’s staff walking past continuously.
“And that’s only if you know but there was no magic figure.
“We don’t want to leave communities behind so it’s really important we don’t see equity gaps in age groups, by ethnicity, by levels of poverty, that the importance of ensuring all the New Zealand communities is included, is as important as the absolute number.”
She said vaccination services were doing very well, there was a good vaccine supply and for that reason Auckland did not need to be prioritised over the rest of the country, she said.
“If we had a supply shortage then that would be a consideration but because we have been able to get in the extra supplies, we don’t want to lose the momentum anywhere you’ve got someone with Covid coming through ED — it’s just not set up for it.”
A spokesperson from CCDHB said they were not aware of any specific concerns but recognised the potential for the issue and were “exploring options”.
Hutt Valley DHB and Capital & Coast DHB chief executive Fionnagh Dougan said all patients admitted to Wellington and Hutt Valley hospitals, including those for planned care, were screened for risk of exposure and symptoms.
“The screening will guide testing and what isolation precautions that are used.”
“Patients who screen as higher risk for Covid-19 infection will be managed in a single room under appropriate precautions until tests are negative.”
She said the Covid-19 case hospitalised last week in Wellington was a known case, and their transfer was managed from MIQ directly into an isolation room at Wellington Hospital. They did not need ICU care.
During the 2020 outbreak, nine cases in the region required hospitalisation at Wellington Regional Hospital — one in ICU, and the others on a ward. in New Zealand.”
Nationally, Bay of Plenty was the worst performer with nearly half its population (47 per cent) still to be vaccinated.
Taranaki wasn’t far behind with 46 per cent not having received the jab, and Lakes DHB — which represented people in Taupo¯ and Rotorua — had 45 per cent of people unvaccinated.
Nelson Marlborough DHB was leading the way with 42 per cent of eligible people fully vaccinated, while 31 per cent had received their first dose and 27 per cent were unvaccinated.
Southern and Capital and Coast DHBS had the least number of people left unvaccinated, both sitting at 29 per cent.