New Greymouth hospital capacity tested
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Te Nikau Hospital in Greymouth is being tested to capacity as Covid-19 continues to rage through the region.
West Coast District Health Board operations manager Philip Wheble said those presenting at the hospital had "quite complex" needs.
"We're having some challenges around our inpatient activity, around capacity at Te Nikau," he told the board's advisory committee meeting.
Te Nikau was generally about 91% full at the midnight capacity measurement time, meaning there was not a lot of room to make more beds available for incoming patients overnight.
The 91% capacity figure essentially meant there were three spare beds at peak time, Wheble said.
Rest homes were also under pressure.
"We do have some issues with access to aged residential care. That is being resolved now."
Covid-19 had made for "a challenging time... [but] the teams have done a remarkable job".
Mr Wheble noted the GP shortage in Reefton, which would be without a doctor throughout winter. An "enormous effort" was planned to find a locum.
Currently the DHB was using GP staff from its other practices to conduct a once a week clinic in Reefton, combined with nurse and telehealth appointments. Telehealth waiting times for Reefton patients needing to consult a doctor were currently four days. Reefton is 80 kilometres away from the nearest GP surgeries at both Greymouth and Westport.
Wheble said the reopening of Ziman House rest home at the Reefton Hospital had been postponed until August, "at this stage".
Advisory group chairman Peter Neame asked if the board had done anything yet about instituting some regional training given the national nursing shortage impacting on the board's capacity to operate facilities, such as at Reefton.
"If you don't have some sort of regional training, you are going to be seriously short," Neame said.
Wheble said work was beginning to bring back some West Coast-based training for enrolled nurses and aged residential care support staff "with a capped training programme".
However, general registered nurse training was more of a problem as it was mainly polytechnic or university-based.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.8% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
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