Planned care and non-urgent services at Gisborne Hospital will be reduced from today.

The measures are due to rising COVID-19 cases affecting the availability of frontline staff and the need to keep capacity for an increase in people needing COVID-19 related care.

The reduction in services will allow urgent cases to be prioritised, such as emergencies, people with a high suspicion of cancer and others identified by clinicians as needing urgent attention.

Hauora Tairāwhiti chief executive Jim Green says the measures will ensure there are enough staff to support any urgent care the community may need, while still making sure planned care services continue as much as possible.

“We know people have been waiting for their procedures to happen and apologise for further delay. This is temporary measure and as soon as the situation normalises, we’ll resume normal service and continue our efforts to catch-up on delayed procedures,” he said.

Most outpatients appointments will continue by video or phone. Staff will be contacting anyone who has their appointments changed. If you’re not contacted, you can assume your appointment is proceeding as planned.

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