Patients left waiting weeks for lifesaving procedures amid bed shortage
A severe shortage of cardiac beds and staff in New Zealand hospitals is causing significant delays for patients requiring life-saving procedures. Medical professionals describe the situation as a 'shambles,' noting that patients are waiting weeks for treatments that should occur within days.
Why it matters
This highlights critical systemic failures in public healthcare infrastructure and the direct impact on patient safety and mortality.
A shortage of cardiac beds and staff in Wellington and Christchurch hospitals is leaving patients at risk and waiting weeks for treatment instead of the recommended days - a situation one doctor describes as a "shambles".
The shortage also means that cardiac cath labs - used for procedures such as placing stents - are left unused for parts of the day due to a lack of staff.
The newly upgraded cath lab in Wellington needs radiologists and physiologists along with nurses to care for patients in the cardiac wards after treatment.
In its pre-election manifesto, the Cardiac and Respiratory Foundation is calling for better staffing and more cardiac beds to help tackle the country's single biggest killer.
Anna Haarkman has been waiting in Palmerston North Hospital for more than two weeks for a pacemaker after being admitted with chest pains.
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