Wairarapa appreciates tertiary back-up

Wairarapa appreciates tertiary back-up

Clinical staff at Wairarapa Hospital have spoken out to support the care given by their colleagues at Wellington Hospital.

“Despite all the bad press that Wellington Hospital is getting at the present time, we experience the support from teams of dedicated and hardworking professionals, who are always there when we need their services,” says Alan Shirley, Chief Medical Officer for the Wairarapa District Health Board.

Wairarapa has frequent contact with Wellington Hospital, which serves the whole of the lower North Island for some regional services, especially intensive care and highly specialised services.

“We send people to Wellington by helicopter or ambulance when they need intensive services like the neonatal unit, neurosurgery, or Trauma Centre care,” says Hospital General manager Anne McLean. “Their retrieval teams are rapid, dedicated and supportive. We also send people for services that it is impractical to provide in the Wairarapa, or require more resource than a visiting specialist can provide, like cardiothoracic surgery, renal dialysis, some oncology and complex endocrine disorders.”

Wairarapa DHB transfers around six patients a week for services at Wellington Hospital.

“We could not provide the level of care we do to Wairarapa residents without the back-up from expert clinical staff at Wellington Hospital,” says Alan Shirley. “It’s not just the hand-on care, it’s the ability to confer and consult with them too. We appreciate that they are an essential part of keeping our population healthy.”

Director of Nursing Helen Pocknall agrees. “We have close contact with Wellington hospital staff on many levels. Of particular note is the way they support ongoing education for our nurses both directly, and by helping to train our trainers. Wairarapa nurses really appreciate the tremendous support Wellington nurses provide.”

ENDS

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