Emergency, but where to go?
Reaching help in an emergency is harder for North Wellington residents. Kenepuru Hospital has an accident and medical centre, but all emergency cases must go to Wellington Central Hospital. Capital & Coast District Health Board communications advisor Raylene Bateman says unless your ailment can be treated by a GP then travelling to Wellington is a must. ?I can?t stress enough that Kenepuru doesn?t have an emergency department, and all emergencies must come to Wellington,? she says. Staff at Wellington Hospital are hoping 24 new beds will make a big difference to emergency department congestion. The hospital has a new regional medical assessment and planning unit (MAPU), and Mrs Bateman says the aim is to give patients an easier route to care than waiting for long periods while more urgent cases are dealt with. Capital & Coast internal medicine clinical leader Robyn Toomath says the model is used in the UK and at Auckland City Hospital. ?If it?s like Auckland,? she says. ?50 per cent of patients won?t see any other part of the hospital, will be discharged home or have a short stay, overnight [and] 50 per cent will go to MAPU or to Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua; to the internal medicine ward or to the stroke unit.? Before last year?s major revamp of the Capital & Coast facilities in Wellington, Porirua and Kapiti, the DHB had investigated making the Tertiary Hospital further north. But Ms Bateman says because the Wellington region has a higher population than other areas, and it serves the top of the South Island, keeping the main hospital services in Wellington was ideal. Ms Bateman says the regions hospitals, including the Hutt DHB, allocate placement of patients depending on their need. Women who are expected to have a normal birth are able to book-in at the Kenepuru?Maternity Unit and a prior screening for risk factors will advise of suitability for birthing there. Mrs Bateman says, ?There are maternity services at Kenepuru, but if there are any complications they need to be brought to Wellington. The Kapiti Centre also has two maternity beds. ?For all major operations, such as brain and heart surgery, the service is in Wellington. All the top level things are in Wellington?. Hutt Valley District Health Board communications advisor Solomon Concessio says extensions to the emergency department will be complete by 2012 and clip-on theatres are proving effective cover in the meantime. ?We have a minor injury clinic that operates in the ED, this helps take care of people with minor injuries, such as someone with a sprained ankle, instead of them having to travel to Wellington,? says Mr Concessio. The Emergency Department at Hutt Valley DHB provides 24 hour emergency care for real or perceived injury, illness, or complications and treatment that could not be provided in a primary care setting (GP surgery, After Hours Clinic). The Hospital also has a first-class maternity ward.
