O'Connor's Commitment to Wellington Hospital Investigation Welcomed
ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy said today that families of heart patients who have died, and patients who
continue to wait for surgery at Wellington Hospital, will welcome the Associate Minister of Health's commitment to
investigate why patients are not transferred to the private Wakefield Hospital when there is a lack of capacity in the
public system.
"Damien O'Connor yesterday made a commitment to investigate why Wellington Hospital did not refer to the private
Wakefield Hospital, heart patients who had their surgery cancelled. Failure to do so has resulted in the death of at
least two patients and unacceptable delays in the treatment of many others.
"I have written to the Minister asking him what form the investigation will take. I have also asked him to specify the
terms of reference of the investigation, who will carry out the investigation, and when to expect the formal report to
be publicly available.
"Wellington Hospital's Cardiac Surgery budget was underspent by $1.7 million in the last financial year, despite
theatre space and intensive care beds being available at the nearby Wakefield Hospital. Wakefield Hospital not only had
the capacity but could have taken the patients at short notice.
I look forward to discovering the reasons for the apparent refusal to use the private capacity available in the
Wellington Region and hopefully a speedy resolution to this ridiculous situation," Mrs Roy said.