Services at Whangarei Hospital Fully Operational

Media Release

October 20 2016

Services at Whangarei Hospital Fully Operational

The recent Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) strike action ended at 7am this morning.

Over the two day strike action at Whangarei Hospital 21 operations were delayed and approximately 99 adult and 22 Paediatric outpatients’ appointments were rescheduled.

Whangarei Hospital had less than normal presentations over the last two days and hospital occupancy fell accordingly.

“We are grateful to the members of the public and primary care services for minimising the impact of presentations at the hospital,” Chief Executive, Dr Nick Chamberlain said.

During the strike, Whangarei Hospital was staffed with dedicated health professionals including nurses, allied health, senior doctors, and some Resident Medical Officers (non-union members) and those Resident Doctor Association union members that chose to work.

With District Hospitals not affected by the strike action staff were also able to contribute by sharing clinical staff and, if appropriate, keeping patients at their regional hospital rather than transferring them to Whangarei.

Dr Chamberlain acknowledges the dedicated staff throughout Northland DHB.

“We know that every one of our staff, no matter what their role, come to work because they get to make a difference to their patients and improve their lives and we are extremely grateful for their continued support.”

Services at Whangarei Hospital are now fully operational and as always if you are feeling unwell you must present at the emergency department. For minor problems and regular health checks we ask that people continue to go to their GP or White Cross.

-ENDS-

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