Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall opens new endoscopy unit at Timaru Hospital

Wednesday, 14 June 2023

It may have been her first visit to Timaru as the minister of health, but there was a familiar touch as Dr Ayesha Verrall officially opened the hospital’s new endoscopy unit.

Standing alongside her as she cut the ribbon placed across the entrance of the $4 million unit was Verrall’s medical school classmate Magda Sakowska, now a general surgeon at Timaru Hospital.

Verrall praised the work of Te Whatu Ora South Canterbury, and said the new unit played an important part in tackling the region’s high bowel cancer rates.

She was also impressed with the region’s vaccination rates in those aged 2 and under, and hoped the lack of midwives in the area could be addressed through helping trainees to get here.

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As she accepted the scissors from Sakowska to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, Verrall said it was appropriate she was being handed a sharp item from a surgeon.

“For the first three years of medical school Magda and I studied in Dunedin,’’ Verrall, who took over the role in January, said.

“I stayed in Dunedin, and Magda went to Christchurch.’’

The opening of the new unit which includes two procedure rooms, a dedicated recovery area, a fully equipped sterile room, three consultation rooms and a changing room, showers and toilets for staff, has also meant the number of people being treated per day has more than doubled.

The previous unit had one procedure room and the recovery area was shared with Day Patients Services.

It has the capacity to treat up to 24 patients per day, more than doubling the number of 10 daily procedures it was doing in its former location.

Verrall said it was pleasing to hear Timaru Hospital had been supporting Canterbury by completing endoscopic procedures from their wait list.

“It is playing an important role in looking after people.’’

Endoscopies and colonoscopies are both important diagnostic tools “which can treat conditions before they become more serious’', she said.

“Early intervention is good for patient health and could help to reduce pressure on our health system.”

The unit was designed by the staff working in it, and Te Whatu Ora interim district director for South Canterbury Jason Power said this was a key aspect in making sure it was done right.

“It’s so refreshing coming to work,’’ Sakowska said.

“Patients are now consented in a private room which gives more dignity.’’

Last week, Verrall promised to keep new vape retailers more than 300 metres from schools and marae, and restrict the sale of cheap disposable vapes as part of her strategy to crack down on youth vaping.

With at least 15 locations in Timaru where vapes are sold, Verrall said the Government has been “very clear’’ that youth vaping needed to come down.

It also required a community effort, with parents and schools needing to work together to prevent young people from having access to the product.

“It’s about setting clear expectations.’’

When asked about a reported lack of midwives in South Canterbury, Verrall said there needed to be a focus on the pathway of training.

“Having strong local relationships with polytechs and for Te Whatu Ora to make sure we’re supporting midwife students and placements, so they can finish their training and get into work.’’

South Canterbury was also doing good work with winter preparedness programmes and Verrall was pleased to see statistics that showed the region was one of the best performers when it came to childhood immunisation, with only 308 of those children eligible still to be immunised.

As part of her visit, Verrall was also taken for a tour of the recently opened $7m assessment, treatment and rehabilitation (AT and R) unit.

The 17-bed unit has three clinical rooms, a physiotherapy gym, a four-bed bariatric unit, a selection of double and single rooms, and a self-contained flat to assess patients’ readiness to go home.

“This is a wonderful facility which will help patients return to full health and regain confidence before returning home, particularly for those patients from areas where there is limited access to rehab services, like Twizel,’’ Verrall said.

It is expected the full refurbishment of the hospital will be completed in 2026.