Mum heartbroken son's cancer treatment delayed by Starship shortages

The mother of a toddler whose cancer treatment was delayed due to staff shortages at Starship Hospital says often her son was screaming and writhing in pain while they tried to get help from a nurse. She said she was heartbroken and doubted the health minister's assurances that jobs were being recruited for. Some chemotherapy and bone marrow treatments <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/10/15/child-cancer-treatments-rescheduled-at-starship-amid-nurse-shortages/">have been delayed at the children's hospital</a> for up to seven days due to lack of staff. Tanya Lapu'aho's two-and-a-half-year-old son Cillian was diagnosed in January with high-risk neuroblastoma. He's since had multiple stays at Starship for rounds of chemotherapy and two bone marrow transplants, and is moving on to radiation and immunotherapy. Lapu'aho said timing is everything with cancer treatment - but her son's second bone marrow transplant was delayed at least a week because there were not enough specialist nurses to carry out the treatment.