The Southern District Health Board cancelled all planned surgeries at Dunedin Hospital this morning due to severe staff shortages. That alarm was activated largely due to a critical shortage of available bed space in Dunedin Hospital, whereas today’s problem was mostly due to an extraordinary number of staff calling in sick. ‘‘Sustained pressure on our health care system, together with high numbers of emergency department presentations, Covid-19, staff fatigue and illness has increased the challenges for our already busy hospital,’’ Mr Brown said. Mr Brown hoped that the hospital would be able to resume a normal workload as soon as possible. Dunedin Hospital has been closed to visitors due to Covid-19 outbreaks on some wards, but was scheduled to reopen this afternoon.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 08, 2022 04:47 UTC