Staffing issues may effect maternity services in Queenstown this weekend.
In the latest development in the ongoing saga of maternity resourcing in Queenstown and Central Otago, Lakes District Hospital operations manager Janeen Holmes said the hospital was "experiencing difficulties filling rosters for core midwives on the maternity ward due to staff illness and leave".
She said yesterday afternoon the hospital was "hopeful it will be resolved by the weekend".
"In any instance, the ward would remain open for births, but lead maternity carer midwives may need the support of their back-up midwife," she said.
A similar issue was averted last month, when Ms Holmes confirmed that "briefly, it looked as though we [Lakes District Hospital] may have had a three-hour gap on the maternity roster for a core midwife" on July 19.
The roster ended up being filled by casual staff and the staffing gap did not eventuate, Ms Holmes said.
