Hundreds of people gathered outside Nelson Hospital in a public demonstration demanding urgent improvements to healthcare services in the region. The protest comes amid growing frustration over staff shortages and excessive wait times for medical assessments and elective surgeries.
Nelson currently holds the highest wait times in the country for initial specialist assessments. Of the more than 7,000 people waiting in the region, over 4,000 have already exceeded the recommended four-month period. Among those affected is Daniel Walker, who shared his story with the crowd, revealing that a delayed hospital appointment allowed his cancer to spread. Originally promised a consultation within two weeks, he was left waiting nine.
Healthcare professionals say the community deserves better. One nurse explained that while patients receive care, the current system doesn’t always allow them to provide the best possible treatment. Medical staff have also reported being overstretched and under-resourced for years, with records indicating that concerns have been raised as far back as 2013. At that time, internal communications described a “crisis” in the Department of Medicine, warning of compromised patient care due to limited resources.
In recent years, repeated calls for additional staff and investment have gone unanswered. The local Obstetrics and Gynecology department, for instance, has been requesting more doctors since 2022. The number of people on its waitlist now exceeds 1,000. Other departments have reported delayed cancer follow-ups and missed critical timeframes for urgent procedures.
The issues are not new to leadership, as hospital staff have consistently voiced their concerns to both current and past administrations. Many feel the problems are worsening, especially as patient volumes and case complexity increase. Although staffing numbers have grown slightly, chronic vacancies remain, along with ongoing issues like a lack of a second on-call anaesthetist—leading to dangerous delays in emergency care.
One past incident highlighted in internal communications involved a surgery patient needing urgent anaesthetic care at the same time another woman required an emergency C-section. Staff attempted to contact eight anaesthetists without success, resulting in an hour-long delay that could have had serious consequences.
Calls for solutions have led to some short-term fixes. Around 700 elective procedures have been outsourced to private providers, and doctors from nearby towns have been brought in to assist. Authorities are also exploring options to shift minor procedures to outpatient clinics to ease pressure on operating theatres.
Health officials have pledged to take the situation seriously and said they are working on longer-term strategies. However, the message from the community was clear: more must be done to ensure timely, high-quality care in Nelson, and residents are no longer willing to accept the status quo.
