ICU bed shortage halts surgeries

Demand for beds in Wellington Regional Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) is so great that some complex elective surgeries are being deferred for weeks, possibly until after Christmas.

Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has acknowledged the issue, saying it hoped that postponed operations could be rescheduled ‘‘for later this month’’.

However, one Wellington patient said a scheduled heart valve surgery had been cancelled three times in the past eight weeks, and they were told an ICU

"At this stage, we are having to defer surgery as a result of the high demand, and would expect movement out of the ICU to enable that surgery to be rescheduled later this month."

Capital and Coast District Health Board spokeswoman Chris Lowry

bed would not be available before Christmas.

On the first two occasions, the patient – who does not want to be identified – was already at the hospital awaiting the procedure.

The third surgery deferral took place this week, one hour before they were due at the hospital, with the patient claiming they were told an ICU bed wouldn’t be available ‘‘before Christmas’’.

The DHB said that, without knowing the patient’s identity, it could not verify the ‘‘before Christmas’’ remark.

However, hospital and healthcare services general manager Chris Lowry confirmed high demand had forced some complex surgeries to be deferred. The exact number of affected patients was not known.

‘‘At this stage, we are having to defer surgery as a result of the high demand, and would expect movement out of the ICU to enable that surgery to be rescheduled later this month,’’ she said.

‘‘Demand for ICU beds fluctuates. We are currently experiencing high demand from acute patients, some of whom are very complex and having to stay in ICU for a longer time. This is impacting on surgery.’’

In the case of the heart surgery patient, an ICU bed needed to be available before the ‘‘complex surgery’’ could go ahead.

‘‘As we put the needs of urgent patients first, there are times when complex surgeries are deferred because we don’t have an ICU bed for the patient to use after surgery. This is standard practice.’’

At present, patients awaiting cardiac, major orthopaedic spinal, vascular and upper gastrointestinal surgeries were the most acutely affected by the ICU bed shortage.

Newly appointed Health Minister David Clark was unavailable for an interview yesterday.

A representative from his office said while it was an ‘‘operational matter’’ for the DHB, Clark ‘‘would want to ensure the patient’s concerns were being heard’’.

Wellington Hospital’s status as a tertiary hospital meant it provided intensive care and highdependency services for the capital, as well as the central region, which stretches from Hawke’s Bay to Nelson.

Lowry stressed that patients needing emergency surgery would ‘‘always’’ be accommodated.

In August, CCDHB approved a multimillion-dollar ICU expansion for Wellington, increasing bed numbers from 18 to 24.

The department caters for around 1500 ICU admissions each year, with more than 850 for patients living outside the capital.