Wellington Hospital is trialling cutting maternity and gynaecology beds to ease ED pressure.
Staff have been told maternity overflow space will be re-purposed as 12 more Emergency Department places.
NZ College of Midwives Chief Executive Alison Eddy says staff in Wellington have reported the current maternity facility is over 100 percent occupancy.
"There might be spare beds today, but on a regular basis they're over capacity. And I think the other really important thing to bear in mind is that maternity is like the ED of the maternity service... it can have unpredictable demand."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wellington Hospital converting some maternity beds to ED beds in
an attempt to bolster this struggling emergency department. The change
will bring the number of women's health wards down from
four to three for a four month trial period. Allison
Eddie is the chief executive at a College of Midwibes.
Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Good to have you on the show, Allison.
(00:23):
So who's squanting the beds exactly?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, we understand that Wellington Hospital ED is under significant
over crowding pressure and part of that pressure is because
they can't move people through the service into admission into
medical beds, so they're hoping to create well the plan
or proposed plan, is to recurpose some of the women's
health beds I think it's on the fourth floor of
Wellington Hospital into medical beds, so really reducing the footprint
(00:52):
for that service overall.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Presumably there'll be women who will fill some of the
health beds. I mean that it's not just men taking over.
But are they specific to women?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
No, no, that I think the beds on the fourth
floor at the moment are sort of gynecology maternity beds,
nico birthing sweet But the intention I believe is to
take twelve of the beds which are currently allocated to
gynecology and make those general medical beds so they could
be meant or woman obviously depending on the patients presenting
in the ED.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Right, but not specialty beds the hospital. The hospitals is
they're not full at the moment. There are spare beds.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well what we hear from our members in Wellington and
also the MAREST the Midwifes Union tell us that overall
the maternity facility at Wellington Woman's is over one hundred
percent occupancy. So there might be spared beds today, but
on a regular basis they're over capacity. And I think
the other really important thing to really bear in mind
(01:50):
is that maternity is like the ED of the maternity service.
You know, it's an acute service. It can have unpredictable
demand and it needs capacity to receive admissions on a
twenty four seven basis, just like ED does. See this
is and Wellington, Yeah, Wellington Hospital is actually a tertiary
referral center for quite a lot of outlying provincial units.
You know, it's serving a really large geographic area with
(02:12):
you know, many high risk, high risk patients that are
referred in there.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, it's interesting, Allison, because you're not the first person
to come on from you know, you're with the College
of Midwives, but not the first person to come on
from the sect of saying one thing and health is
saying another. So it's very hard for us to know
unless we go into this hospital. I mean, you haven't
been in there either. Who do we believe the midwives
who are there, or do we believe healthings it or what?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, you know, the midwives are on at the front
line every day doing the work and telling us that
the service is already over capacity. And what they're planning
to do is use what are currently supposedly single rooms
and make those double occupancy so they can double up
mothers and babies in the same room.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So there will still be enough room, but it just
that'd be doubled up.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's what they're telling us.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Different story, isn't it. I mean, now you're talking about
the comfortability of a hospital as opposed to the acute
need of it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Potentially, yes, but what our members are telling us that
those single rooms are already used as double rooms from
time to time, so that you know, it might look
like they've got twenty beds for example, but they've actually
got twenty four patients and so you know, for example,
so there will be more pressure on the service overall
because the beds are already over capacity.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Allison, appreciate your time this morning, this afternoon, rather Ellison Eddie,
the Chief Executive New Zealand Royal College of Midwives, making
the case for keeping them guy, no, no, thank you very much.
For more from Heather Duplessy, Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Wellington Hospital converting some maternity beds to ED beds in
an attempt to bolster this struggling emergency department. The change
will bring the number of women's health wards down from
four to three for a four month trial period. Allison
Eddie is the chief executive at a College of Midwibes.
Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Good to have you on the show, Allison.
(00:23):
So who's squanting the beds exactly?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, we understand that Wellington Hospital ED is under significant
over crowding pressure and part of that pressure is because
they can't move people through the service into admission into
medical beds, so they're hoping to create well the plan
or proposed plan, is to recurpose some of the women's
health beds I think it's on the fourth floor of
Wellington Hospital into medical beds, so really reducing the footprint
(00:52):
for that service overall.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Presumably there'll be women who will fill some of the
health beds. I mean that it's not just men taking over.
But are they specific to women?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
No, no, that I think the beds on the fourth
floor at the moment are sort of gynecology maternity beds,
nico birthing sweet But the intention I believe is to
take twelve of the beds which are currently allocated to
gynecology and make those general medical beds so they could
be meant or woman obviously depending on the patients presenting
in the ED.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Right, but not specialty beds the hospital. The hospitals is
they're not full at the moment. There are spare beds.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well what we hear from our members in Wellington and
also the MAREST the Midwifes Union tell us that overall
the maternity facility at Wellington Woman's is over one hundred
percent occupancy. So there might be spared beds today, but
on a regular basis they're over capacity. And I think
the other really important thing to really bear in mind
(01:50):
is that maternity is like the ED of the maternity service.
You know, it's an acute service. It can have unpredictable
demand and it needs capacity to receive admissions on a
twenty four seven basis, just like ED does. See this
is and Wellington, Yeah, Wellington Hospital is actually a tertiary
referral center for quite a lot of outlying provincial units.
You know, it's serving a really large geographic area with
(02:12):
you know, many high risk, high risk patients that are
referred in there.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, it's interesting, Allison, because you're not the first person
to come on from you know, you're with the College
of Midwives, but not the first person to come on
from the sect of saying one thing and health is
saying another. So it's very hard for us to know
unless we go into this hospital. I mean, you haven't
been in there either. Who do we believe the midwives
who are there, or do we believe healthings it or what?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, you know, the midwives are on at the front
line every day doing the work and telling us that
the service is already over capacity. And what they're planning
to do is use what are currently supposedly single rooms
and make those double occupancy so they can double up
mothers and babies in the same room.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So there will still be enough room, but it just
that'd be doubled up.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's what they're telling us.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Different story, isn't it. I mean, now you're talking about
the comfortability of a hospital as opposed to the acute
need of it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Potentially, yes, but what our members are telling us that
those single rooms are already used as double rooms from
time to time, so that you know, it might look
like they've got twenty beds for example, but they've actually
got twenty four patients and so you know, for example,
so there will be more pressure on the service overall
because the beds are already over capacity.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Allison, appreciate your time this morning, this afternoon, rather Ellison Eddie,
the Chief Executive New Zealand Royal College of Midwives, making
the case for keeping them guy, no, no, thank you very much.
For more from Heather Duplessy, Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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