National wants norovirus investigation
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