Blunder as staff not told of cancellations

Chris Fleming.
Chris Fleming.
The Southern District Health Board was quick to tell patients strike-affected appointments were cancelled, but neglected to tell some staff.

A clinician said yesterday some departments had waited to treat patients who failed to appear.

''We can only presume a patient who was to undergo a significant surgery was cancelled because that individual did not present, but we were not advised that this decision had been made,'' the clinician said.

Staff at the coalface were not being adequately informed, the clinician said.

SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said about 1200 outpatient appointments and 85 surgeries would normally take place on a Thursday.

''Staff have been advised that patients are being rescheduled.'' he said.

''This is logistically challenging, and services are working hard to ensure services run as smoothly as possible.''

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