Dyson 'shocked' by nurse situation

Hiring a private nurse to help care for a patient in Nelson Hospital is one of the "most distressing things I've ever heard of", says Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson.

The Nelson Mail reported yesterday that a nurse at Nelson Hospital had told Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis that they were too busy to give her mother the care she needed, and suggested that she hire a private nurse.

Ms Davis paid a private nurse $100 a day for 10 days to come into the hospital to look after her mother, Josephine Fargo.

Mrs Fargo was recovering from a severe bladder infection that had spread to her blood, resulting in life-threatening septicaemia. The nurse worked alongside hospital nurses in the medical ward.

Ms Dyson said she imagined that Nelson Hospital was "always pretty busy and full", but she had "never heard of anything like this".

"I'm shocked. It's extraordinary to think that in our public hospital, which we're all pretty proud of, that they haven't got enough nurses to look after the patients who are admitted there. It's just amazing.

"When you think of how many people go into public hospitals who don't have any money, what do they do? A thousand dollars is a thousand dollars too much for lots of people. It's really distressing."

Ms Davis has laid a complaint with the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, which has said it will investigate.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said it was appropriate that the complaint was investigated, and that the health board employed more nurses than it did two years ago.

In March, seven nurses contacted The Nelson Mail to express their concerns over what they called intolerable stress levels and staff shortages.

- © Fairfax NZ News