Photo / Peter McIintosh, FileDunedin Hospital came perilously close to a "Code Black" situation recently, the Southern District Health Board has been told. Code Black is a rarely invoked situation when the hospital is essentially full and patients need to be discharged so new cases can be admitted. Dunedin has only once entered Code Black, in March this year, and staff moved quickly to get the hospital back to normal seven hours later. Board chief executive Chris Fleming said the fact the hospital did not reach Code Black showed that new systems introduced following the March incident had worked. However, board chairman Pete Hodgson was clearly frustrated a Code Black had almost been called two weeks ago.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 09, 2021 01:57 UTC