Health NZ says repairs being made to leak-stricken Hutt Hospital

Health New Zealand has outlined work being undertaken at Hutt Hospital after nurses bought to light multiple instances of leaking buildings at the facility.

A nurse - who did not want to be named - told RNZ this week staff were confronted by sodden and collapsed roofing panels, failing lights, electrical sockets crackling with electricity, multiple buckets and bins collecting water from overhead leaks, soaking carpets and wallpaper peeling from walls.

She said the problems were putting staff under additional pressure and creating concerns over the impact on patient health.

"There's been comments of 'do we need to start bringing hard hats and gumboots to work' and 'how long until the building's going to come crumbling down on us while we're here?'. Underneath [the dark humour] there's a sense of people being scared and we're shocked," she said.

The nurse delegate who spoke with RNZ said keeping people and patients safe in the buildings had become a "collective effort" with orderlies and security staff chipping in by placing bins beneath leaks, while cleaners mopped up wet floors.

"We come to work to care for patients, but have found ourselves managing the hospital environment alongside our clinical responsibilities. During periods of heavy rain, our focus shifts beyond patient care to identifying new leaks, reporting hazards, monitoring affected areas and ensuring clinical spaces remain safe while continuing to provide care."

Health NZ says all leaks 'actively addressed'

In a statement Health New Zealand regional director infrastructure central Steve Crombie said the all of the hospital's leaks were being "actively addressed".

"Health New Zealand is managing several localised water ingress issues across parts of Hutt Hospital. These have occurred intermittently during recent severe weather. When leaks happen, areas are immediately isolated and mitigations are put in place to ensure patient and staff safety," Crombie said.

Crombie said a leak outside the Emergency Department had been repaired this week.

A part of the Community Health building - where the roof membrane was replaced a couple of years ago - had also been affected and Crombie said a "localised leak" had been recently repaired in that area, while work to replace the roof on the hospital's Nikau building was also in progress.

Crombie said "long term remediation solutions" were also being advanced for both the Atrium roof and the Therapies roof at the hospital.

"Health NZ is prioritising a repair and replacement programme for roofing at Hutt Hospital. Two major roof replacements are planned within the next 12 months as part of this programme. We are also completing a building condition assessment to inform the sequencing and timing of any future work repair work," Crombie said.

Crombie would not be drawn on the time frame for bringing the hospital's watertightness fully up to scratch until the assessment was complete.

Nurses had compiled images of collapsed and sodden roofing panels with some showing electrical wiring behind the panels as well as a video of a socket which appeared to crackle with the sound of electrical current.

Crombie said any leak involving electrical fittings was treated with urgency and managed by qualified personnel.

"Weather tightness issues can be complex to diagnose, as water can travel within a structure, and identifying the source is not always straightforward.

"We recognise the inconvenience these issues can cause patients and staff and are committed to a continuum of care. Affected areas were made safe immediately, and clinical services continued to operate safely," Crombie said.