Waikato Hospital is sending some emergency patients to other hospitals due to a staff shortage. Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
Some Waikato emergency patients are being sent to other hospitals because of a shortage of a specialist type of radiologist in the region.
Interventional radiologists use images like CT scans and X-rays to diagnose or treat certain conditions - for example, guiding equipment internally to stop bleeding.
However, they are so short-staffed at Waikato Hospital that none are able to be on-call on weeknights for emergencies or urgent cases.
Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ director of hospital and specialist services for the region Michelle Sutherland said one of the interventional radiologists had been injured and could not work.
The existing team was unable to "absorb this extra workload", she said.
That meant they would only provide after-hours cover over the weekend, because that was when "major trauma events" requiring interventional radiology were more likely to occur, she said.
"If a patient requiring IR is identified during a period without local on-call cover (and they cannot be safely medically managed overnight), they are able to be transported to the nearest alternate hospital, for example the air ambulance would fly to Auckland rather than Hamilton."
RNZ understands Auckland City Hospital has already treated some emergency patients from the region, which also covers Bay of Plenty and Taranaki, and Middlemore would take on some spinal patients because of the shortage.
Despite nationwide restrictions on hiring at Te Whatu Ora, Sutherland said Waikato was still actively recruiting for interventional radiologists.
In the meantime, it was seeking locum cover so it could reinstate the 24/7 service, she said.
Because interventional radiology was provided in a limited number of hospitals, it was normal for patients to be transported to access those services, she said.
However, Waikato Hospital was normally one that took patients from nearby regions.
Meanwhile, staffing problems are also continuing at the hospital's intensive care unit.
Months ago it put out a call for specialists to come from other regions to help because it was so short-staffed.
That was still happening as of late June, with doctors from other hospitals still helping to keep it running.
Sutherland said there were a number of vacancies for senior intensive care doctors and locums from other Te Whatu Ora hospitals were being used in the meantime.