Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

26 August 2008

National wants norovirus investigation

National is calling for an independent investigation into the norovirus outbreak at Dunedin Hospital, which badly affected over 170 staff and patients.

"Now that the hospital is back to normal, an independent investigation is needed to make sure such outbreaks can be minimised and better managed in the future,” says National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall.

"This has been the most significant outbreak in recent memory and the public deserves to know what may have contributed to it, and what can be done to better deal with future outbreaks.

"We also need to know if the hospital should have been put into lockdown earlier than was actually done.

“More than 2,300 procedures, outpatient visits and planned admissions were postponed during the outbreak.

“This week staff will be analysing their response to the outbreak to see what worked well and what could be improved, those in charge of systems and procedures should also have their responses independently checked.

“The public need to know that when these things happen in our public hospitals, the authorities learn what they can to limit the disruption to patient health and safety if, and when, the next norovirus outbreak occurs.”

ENDS

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