Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Health Minister Shane Reti's office has quashed rumours that Dargaville Hospital could be closed down, saying any such speculation is "utterly wrong".
RNZ asked Dr Reti if there were any plans for the beleaguered hospital - either extra investment, expansion, downsizing or closure - and was told closing Dargaville Hospital was not under consideration.
A spokesperson for Reti said Health NZ would respond with a progress update on staff recruitment at Dargaville and services for the people of Northland.
"People starting these sorts of rumours [about the hospital closing] are actively undermining confidence and trust in the public health system," the spokesperson said.
The hospital - which serves a population of more than 27,000 people across Northland's Kaipara District - has been struggling to fill its medical roster for some time.
Its emergency department and 12-bed inpatient ward are often without a doctor after hours, forcing stressed nurses to rely on a commercial telehealth service for support.
Top Northland health officials were to have met Dargaville nursing staff last Friday.
It is not clear if that meeting went ahead because staff have been barred from speaking to media.
Dargaville Hospital serves a population of about 27,000 people across the Kaipara District. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
If the hospital were to close its overnight beds, that would mean transporting patients to Whangārei Hospital, which has its own problems - in particular, high demand on its emergency department.
Whangārei is just under an hour's drive from Dargaville via State Highway 14.
Many emergency cases are already taken directly to Whangārei due to Dargaville Hospital's doctor shortage.
St John has confirmed to RNZ that Dargaville has just one ambulance.
That means any time a patient has to be transferred to Whangārei, there may be no ambulance available in Dargaville and surrounding areas for two hours.
Backup is from St John stations in Whangārei or Maungaturoto, also about 50 minutes away.
Dargaville Hospital currently has 12 beds in a general ward and eight in a detox unit. Northland's other rural hospitals - Kaitāia and Kawakawa - have 26 and 20 beds, respectively.
The lack of doctors at Dargaville Hospital prompted a rare nurses' strike on 29 August, with nurses saying they were stressed and fearful of the consequences of looking after patients when no doctors were available.
Dargaville Hospital serves the town of Dargaville, pictured, and the wider Kaipara District. Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ
While the doctor shortage is nothing new, senior clinicians have told RNZ it reached a critical level in May when Health NZ cut the pay rate for locums, or short-term doctors, by as much as 40 percent in some cases.
RNZ was told some locums who had been coming to Northland for years refused to return when their pay was cut almost by half.
RNZ understands doctors were informed in early September that consultation about Dargaville Hospital was about to take place.
While no more details were available at that time, Section 43 of the doctors' collective agreement requires Health NZ to consult members about any "any review that might result in significant changes to either the structure, staffing or work practices affecting employees... at the earliest practical opportunity".
Dargaville Medical Centre, Te Hā Oranga o Ngāti Whātua and Hospice Kaipara are based on the same site but are not directly affected by any changes at the hospital.
Staffing worries at Dargaville Hospital come just as the town appears to be on the cusp of a population boom.
A private plan change, announced in August by the Kaipara District Council, will allow 47ha of land at the former Dargaville Racecourse to be developed for housing and light industry.
A similar plan change in May opened up 39ha of rural land on Awakino Road, a short distance from the hospital, for the construction of up to 384 homes.
Health NZ has been contacted for comment.
