Hospital records area cleanup under way

A $300,000 environmental cleanup which will allow staff to access clinical records at Dunedin Hospital again is under way.

Testing has found asbestos in the area is now within permissible levels.

The Southern District Health Board has restricted access to the storage since late 2016, after testing showed localised traces of asbestos.

Since then, more sophisticated testing in the records storage area had been carried out which involved sending samples to the United States.

SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said last week the SDHB was confident the asbestos level fell within Worksafe’s permissible limits.

‘‘Our initial response was very cautious and we don’t apologise for that.

‘‘The welfare of our staff is of paramount importance and we were working with the information we had at the time.’’

He described the move as ‘‘good news for staff and good news for patients’’.

Since access has been restricted to the area, electronic records have been used, and when accessing a paper record was deemed critical there was an established protocol to enter the basement.

‘‘There’s been a lot of concern among staff and, while the new tests put the area in the clear for asbestos, it is only human to have lingering doubts.

‘‘We want to recognise that and give staff confidence in handling these records in the future.’’

In 2017 a man who did not wish to be named contacted the Otago Daily Times to say his ACC claim had been rejected because of a lack of documentation.

The documentation needed for his claim to proceed was in the asbestosaffected storage area, he said.

Mr Fleming said the environmental clean would take place in stages over the next two months, and was expected to cost about $300,000.

Individuals who had requested their records but whose requests had not been able to be fulfilled would be contacted as soon as the records area was ready.