Dunedin Hospital was in crisis last night after all planned surgery yesterday was cancelled due to severe staff shortages. Emergency care was still being provided, but people were being urged to stay away from the hospital unless they were genuinely in need of immediate care. Some hospital staff are understood to have fallen ill themselves after those outbreaks, further exacerbating a serious workforce shortage. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists chief executive Sarah Dalton said that the decision to stop surgery would have been wrenching for both patients and staff. "I cannot understate the difficulties faced by doctors, the fatigue they are facing and the extra burden of stress that they are under, which is huge.’’Yesterday there were 33 people with Covid-19 in hospital in Otago and Southland, most of them in Dunedin Hospital.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 09, 2022 04:33 UTC