New leaks are still being discovered in copper piping throughout Wellington Hospital, MPs have been told.
Wellington Hospital Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
RNZ reported last year that extensive pinhole leaks in hot and cold water pipes had developed throughout the relatively new hospital.
The leaks were extensive in both the hot and cold-water pipes, across the more than 48,000sqm hospital in Newtown.
The board has started legal action against the manufacturer, the construction company and the engineers involved.
Fletcher Construction was the main contractor for the build, which cost $346 million. The hospital opened in 2009.
Capital and Coast District Health Board chief executive Andrew Blair told MPs at a health select committee meeting today the leaks were first discovered to be an issue in the first half of 2016. They appeared at a rate of up to five new leaks a week.
"While not directly impacting on the quality of care and services we provide, they are certainly an inconvenience and stretching out maintenance services," Mr Blair said.
Mr Blair said the pipes were "clearly not performing as they should have and the problem is either with their manufacture, or how they were installed, or both".
"For these reasons the board has initiated legal proceedings against the manufacturer, the construction company and the engineers involved."
The companies involved were construction firm Fletchers; Beca, which provided design and engineering services; and Crane Group in Australia, which made the copper pipes.
Mr Blair - who became DHB chair at Christmas - said further work was being done on options to fix the problem and on the likely costs "and other implications".
Copper can be pinholed by chlorine attacking impurities in the metal. Chlorine becomes more corrosive as the water temperature goes above 65 degrees Celsius.
DHB faces $17.9m deficit
Mr Blair also told MPs that the DHB, which had a $11.9 million deficit last year, forecast a deficit of $17.9 million this financial year.
Capital and Coast DHB chair Andrew Blair and chief executive Debbie Chin at Parliament's health select committee today. Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown
"Obviously with five months of the year to go we'll be doing everything we can to reduce that, but there may well be other factors outside of our control that make it worse."
He pointed out the deficit was less than 2 percent of the DHB's billion dollar-plus budget, adding "any deficit is not satisfactory in my view" and work was being done on the reasons.
Mr Blair told MPs: "I think how we deliver our services needs to be looked at", prompting Labour's health spokesperson, Annette King, to ask what was being considered.
He replied, "I don't have any initiatives right now, it's something that the new board is working with the chief executive and management [on]".
Ms King quizzed the DHB about the effect of the population-based funding formula affecting all DHBs, saying: "You get less than others because you have a younger population".
Mr Blair replied that the DHB had less deprivation that some communities, and fewer people in rural areas, which could affect overall funding. He added: "The funding is what it is and it's incumbent on us to do our best to live within our means."
The DHB chiefs were quizzed by Green MP Gareth Hughes over the care of an autistic man, Ashley Peacock, following critical comments by the Chief Ombudsman.
The clinical director of Forensic District Area Mental Health Services, Susanna Every-Palmer, said it did not disagree with the Chief Ombudsman, who said Mr Peacock should be moved urgently.
However, Dr Every-Palmer added: "The issue is just simply one of managing the risk, and so as we transition him somewhere else we have to make sure that he's safe, that the public is safe and that the staff who are working with him are safe."