Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on March 16 that from 11.59 pm Tuesday, April 12, Australians will be able to travel to New Zealand isolation-free. From 11.59 pm Sunday, May 1, vaccinated travellers from visa waiver countries and also those with valid visitor visas will be able to arrive in NZ.
Those in the healthcare sector feel the NZ healthcare system is quite stressed amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic. There are already reports that the hospitals in NZ are in a crisis-like situation and how reportedly there is a wait time in hospital corridors for up to 24 hours with the recent surge in Omicron-related hospitalisations.
Indian Weekender finds out how the health system is geared for border reopening and how the NZ Healthcare sector will cope with the upcoming increased demand.
Responding to our query, a Ministry of Health spokesperson acknowledged that there is pressure on the health system but assured us that hospitals still have capacity. “At this stage, health officials are comfortable that the border reopening will not result in a significantly higher prevalence of Covid-19 in the community. The Omicron outbreak is placing pressure on our hospitals. The pressure on the health system is not unexpected and is in line with what has been experienced during Omicron outbreaks overseas,” the spokesperson said.
“The pre-departure testing requirement (People travelling to NZ are required to return a negative PRC test within 48 hours of travel, or a negative RAT test within 24 hours of travelling) will decrease the number of people who potentially arrive in New Zealand with Covid-19. Moreover, those travelling to NZ are also required to take a RAT test on Day 0/1 when they arrive and on Day 5/6. They must report both RAT results, whether they test negative or positive. If they test positive on either RAT test, they will be required to isolate for seven days and get a PRC test – this requirement will minimise the spread of the virus if a person does arrive in NZ with Covid-19.”
The spokesperson emphasised that DHBs have made significant effort to maintain service delivery over recent months. “DHBs have put a range of measures in place to increase delivery. This includes prioritising urgent and non-deferable cases, outsourcing where possible, running additional surgical lists, and extending the use of community providers. DHBs are working hard to ensure they see patients in order of clinical priority, with those with the most urgent needs being seen first. At the same time, our emergency departments are continuing to support good infection control processes and appropriate distancing in facilities to minimise infections risks.”
Sarah Dalton, Executive Director, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists NZ (ASMS), is amidst a health system crisis that can no longer be ignored. ASMS shares concerns raised by a Royal New Zealand College of GPs future workforce report, which describes a workforce "in crisis", warning of a desperate need to increase trainees and projected retirement rates.
“Covid hospitalisations are escalating, routine patient care is being postponed or cancelled, clerical and managerial staff are being asked to help out on the wards, and some staff are offered special allowances to work extra shifts. We have emergency departments that are consistently overwhelmed and long waiting lists for specialist services, and Omicron is compounding these existing staff shortages. In the face of all that, reopening borders might give some specialists pause for thought about staying rather than considering work in another country.”
Dalton adds, “Once the Omicron surge is over, clinical staff will have a long and added burden to catch up on the backlog of deferred operations, which will take years. The decades-long failure to undertake focussed workforce planning and investment is now taking a massive toll on our remaining healthcare workforce.”
Even New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) echoed the sentiment of ASMS. NZMA Deputy Chair, Dr Vanessa Weenink, says, “The health care system is under extreme pressure. Doctors are tired. We’re frequently feeling overwhelmed and stretched too thin. Some of us are home isolating with Covid, our children and family members too. We are coping as best we can.
“Many patient bookings and normal consultations aren’t happening due to the pressure - things like screening, check-ups, and immunisations - which is worrying as the quantity of deferred work becomes a backlog. We may not be able to support patients early enough with routine care, and their conditions may become more serious. We need a national plan to deal with the backlog of deferred work, with enough resources, infrastructure, workforce and IT systems to manage it. We will continue to do the best we can with the staffing and resources we have."
District Health Boards across NZ such as Waikato District Health Board as well as Canterbury District Health Board have already deferred some health services primarily due to staff contracting Covid-19 and having to isolate
Canterbury's Covid-19 Emergency Coordination Centre Controller, Dr Helen Skinner said, "With so many staff away, we cannot maintain our normal levels of surgery and outpatient appointments. We are only going ahead with urgent surgery, such as cancer care, and other and non-deferrable surgery and procedures such as following an accident or major trauma, with only a small volume of planned (elective) surgery and procedures going ahead. Anyone needing urgent and emergency care should continue to call their GP team or Healthline 0800 611 116 for health advice or dial 111 if it’s an emergency.”
Skinner added, "Some outpatient appointments are also being postponed this week. Many have already been switched to virtual consults and are carried out over the phone or video call. However, we have to postpone more planned in-person appointments this week.”
A spokesperson of the Waikato District Health Board revealed, “Our hospitals are busy at the moment. Acute and urgent care will continue to be delivered as normal across all hospital sites, as well as time-critical procedures and clinic appointments. However, we have deferred non-urgent planned care and are contacting all affected patients directly. Outpatient clinics continue to shift to virtual consults wherever possible, reducing the required resource, allowing our nursing workforce to be deployed to those areas delivering acute and urgent care.”
“We will continue to monitor the situation in the future and adjust our services further if necessary, to maintain staffing levels and focus on acute and urgent care.”
(with input from Avinash Sen)
ISSUE
