Chief Executive’s Office
Level 12, Building 01
Auckland City Hospital
P O Box 92189
Auckland 1142
(09) 630-9943 ext 22342
Fax: 375 3341
[Auckland District Health Board request email]
11 November 2021
Luke
By email to: [FYI request #17096 email]
Dear Luke
Re
Official Information Request for Nurses at Auckland City Hospital
I refer to your official information request dated 08 October 2021 for the following information:
I am writing to request the number of nurses employed at Auckland City Hospital, and how many
are scheduled to work in the event of a major COVID-19 outbreak. These questions relate to
Auckland City Hospital only. Specifical y:
a) How many Nurses are currently employed at Auckland City Hospital?
b) What is the planned maximum number of Nurses designated to work on COVID-19
wards in the event of a major COVID-19 outbreak?
c) How many Nurses have resigned since May 5, 2021?
d) How many Nurses working in ICU have resigned since May 5, 2021?
e) What is the maximum number of COVID-19 patients ADHB believes it can reasonably
admit to Auckland City Hospital?
f) What is the planned maximum number of ICU beds that is available in the event of a
major COVID-19 outbreak?
By "currently employed", I ask for staff employed as of October 3, 2021, or if unavailable, the most
recent date to that as possible. Similar reasoning applies to c) and d).
By "major COVID-19 outbreak" I mean an outbreak that would represent a worst-case scenario as
planned for by ADHB.
We have provided the information under each of your questions below.
a) How many Nurses are currently employed at Auckland City Hospital?
3149
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b) What is the planned maximum number of Nurses designated to work on COVID-19 wards in the
event of a major COVID-19 outbreak?
There is no planned maximum number of nurses. We wil redeploy nurses from the complement
noted above at a), as required to maintain patient safety.
c) How many Nurses have resigned since May 5, 2021?
76
d) How many Nurses working in ICU have resigned since May 5, 2021?
5
e) What is the maximum number of COVID-19 patients ADHB believes it can reasonably admit to
Auckland City Hospital?
ADHB has not carried out planning to calculate a maximum number of COVID-19 patients it could
‘reasonably’ admit. We’re able to flex according to demand and have escalation plans in place for
a surge in patients. These plans are not just based around numbers of patients requiring our care
but also the acuity and complexity of their conditions.
f) What is the planned maximum number of ICU beds that is available in the event of a major COVID-
19 outbreak?
There is no planned maximum number of beds. Currently the number of physical and resourced
beds is:
Physical Resourced Mix
DCCM 24 17 11 ICU, 6 HDU
CVICU 26 22 16 ICU, 6 HDU
PICU 22 22 16 ICU, 6 HDU
Resourced is what is budgeted and meets requirements as per Col ege of Intensive Care
Medicine standards. The actual number of beds available on any day is also influenced by
vacancies and unplanned leave (e.g. sick leave).
There is an escalation plan to use al unresourced ICU beds initially. If these were all full, we
would then use two of our PACUs (post-anaesthetic care units), which would provide a further
28 beds.
While this would then mean up to 78 physical adult beds, these beds would then need to be
resourced. Escalation involves using non-ICU nurses to assist in the care of ICU patients. This
would occur in a scenario where non-acute care was reduced or stopped. The number of beds
available would depend on the number of nurses freed up to assist in ICU.
DCCM = Department of Critical Medicine
CVICU = Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit
PICU = Paediatric Intensive Care Unit
HDU = High Dependency Unit
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I trust this information answers your questions.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, or an edited version of this response, may be published on the
Auckland DHB website.
Yours sincerely
Ailsa Claire, OBE
Chief Executive
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