‘More time at home’ for Waikato Hospital cancer patients with stem cell day treatment

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

New Zealand Blood Service’s Arina Jeong talks with patient Fran Weatherly while carrying out the autologous stem cell harvesting procedure.

Beds have been freed up at Waikato Hospital due to a treatment approach that means more cancer patients can spend the night at home.

Waikato Hospital’s chemotherapy department is now offering autologous stem cell harvesting as a day procedure, a move that has freed up 3–6 inpatient bed spaces per week.

Nurses described the change as a win for many undergoing the procedure, in which healthy stem cells are collected before the patient undergoes treatment, to be reinfused later.

Involved in stem cell harvesting at Waikato Hospital on Monday are (from left) charge nurse manager Shona Haaggart, registered nurse Micaela Skeen, associate charge nurse manager Liza Adane, NZ Blood Service’s Shem-marie Lacson and Arina Jeong, patient Fran Weatherly with support person Andrew Weatherly, and nurse practitioner Melissa Rogers.

Nurse practitioner Melissa Rogers said cancer involved much more than chemotherapy.

“Autologous stem cell harvesting is most commonly used for patients with blood cancers such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

“This allows them to undergo high-dose chemotherapy – which damages their immune system – before their own stem cells are returned to rebuild it.”

Many patients undergoing autologous stem cell harvesting will no longer have to spend the night at Waikato Hospital.

Patients undergoing the procedure often had weakened immune systems, meaning time in hospital carried a higher risk of infection.

Under the new model, patients went to the chemotherapy unit during the day, where they were connected to collection machines for several hours – usually across one to three days – before returning home afterwards.

“For our patients, it’s about comfort, familiarity and spending more time at home while they’re going through treatment,” said Rogers.

Charge nurse manager Courtney Spring said the change was about putting patients first.

“We’re aiming to reduce time spent in hospital while maintaining safety and clinical quality,” she said.

The day-stay procedure is overseen by a nurse practitioner, alongside a transfusion medicine specialist and haematology clinical nurse specialist.

The introduction of day-stay harvesting had also improved hospital capacity. According to Health New Zealand, the oncology and haematology ward has 36 inpatient beds, and an outpatient day-stay unit with 25 chairs.

The change had freed up an average of “3-6 bed nights per week”.

Not all patients were eligible for day-stay harvesting, as patients were assessed on what was clinically appropriate. Those with more complex needs would still be treated as inpatients.

People who had travelled to Hamilton for the procedure might be eligible for accommodation support from HNZ if they had come a long way, or might be eligible to stay at the Cancer Society’s Lions Lodge.