Welcome to
Waitakere Health Link
Waitakere Health Link fosters effective collaborative relationships between communities and healthcare providers through consultation, advocacy and monitoring.
Please SIGN OUR PETITION
The future of Waitakere Hospital
is ON HOLD INDEFINITELY
Providing increased services and facilities at Waitakere Hospital won’t even be considered for funding again by the Government until 2024/25 financial years at the earliest…
UPDATE
A big thank you to the
5,508
community members who signed our petition to identify Waitakere Hospital as a priority for funding in the Health NZ structure!
We had 5,563 signatures made up of over 5,000 online and over 250 hard copy signatures from lots of churches in the west to the north. 461 people who signed the petition also made comments.
A few comments from the petition:
- “Promoting equitable care means accessible local services.”
- “I’m signing this petition because it’s vital for Waitakere and its growing population.”
- “This community is being treated as secondary to others. We have fought this battle too many times. Time for this Auckland community to be cared for adequately.”
- “The current situation of the low number of beds per head of population makes no sense in terms of providing equitable health services.”
- “I feel frustrated that this has, yet again, not been prioritised with Health funding. There have been multiple attempts to get traction on this – seemingly with no effect.”
- “The lack of hospital care in West Auckland makes second-class citizens of its residents. The current process of sending people from West Auckland to North Shore Hospital adds insult to injury by creating a ridiculous, unnecessary transport obstacle both for patients and for their loved ones wanting to visit.”
The Waitemata District Health Board applied to the Ministry of Health for funding to continue the planned programme to extend Waitakere hospital services into the future and was unfairly declined.
The Ministry of Health advised it “does not believe it can make recommendations of the progression of the programme Business Case” submitted by the Waitemata District Health Board, and have deferred the future development of Waitakere Hospital to the new NZ Health Board entity.
The Ministry of Health letter also goes on to advise “The Waitakere Tranche One Business Case was not identified by the Northern Region DHBs as a priority for Budget 2022 funding (covering the financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024)”.
Waitakere Health Link believe that there is a lack of understanding of the urgency to meet the increased capacity needed to provide adequate services to the West Auckland population (a population that is deprived and one of the fastest growing in the country). Waitakere Hospital has the lowest bed numbers for the population at 1.2 per 1000 population (see table below). Given the equity focus, the Government and Ministry of Health have, West Auckland and Waitakere Hospital should be a priority.
Waitakere Health Link ask that the Waitakere Hospital Master Planning Programme Business Case be reinstated into the current financial year and funding approved before June 2022.
Comparisons with other Hospitals
The table below compares the number of hospital beds available in a region for its population. Beds/1000 means how many beds are available for every 1000 people. Waitakere Hospital rates the LOWEST…
Proposed Waitakere Hospital Master Planning Business Case
The proposed Business Case is a staged development over a number of years with expansion expected based on the Northern Region Long Term Investment Plan. Before progressing each stage, a business case would have to be developed, including updating information and providing justification that the original planned services are still needed at each stage. The current plan consists of:
- Stage 1: Children, Women & Family Complex, Loading Dock, Back-of-House, Expansion of clinical support areas, Infrastructure (power, water, HVAC)
- Stage 2: Marae, Staff Creche, ED reconfiguration, Education Centre, Front of House, Ambulatory Services, Radiology expansion, Theatre expansion
- Stage 3: Second Energy Centre, Multi-story Car Park, Ambulatory Services, Inpatient Unit
- Stage 4: Ambulatory Services, Inpatient Unit, ICU, Paediatrics, Gynaecology, Helipad
- Stage 5: Ambulatory Services, Inpatient Unit, Community Services, ADU & Cardiology, New Mental Health Building
Both Waitakere Health Link and Waitemata District Health Board have invested substantial resources to plan for increased capacity at Waitakere Hospital and have worked with community to identify gaps and future needs of the local population. There is continued intensification of housing in West Auckland along with substantial deprivation requiring increased infrastructure in health to meet the current and future demand.
Upgrading and future proofing this hospital is well overdue. Maintenance has also become an issue with existing buildings not fit for purpose. Some infrastructure such as electrical are “crumbling” and desperately require an upgrade as it is not meeting the current needs.
The Special Care Baby Unit is currently being rebuilt to meet high local birth rates but had to be funded predominantly by philanthropic grants to the tune of $5m of a $6m total.
WHAT WE DO
Connecting services
We work closely with local health and social service providers to connect the services in the west with consumers, share health information with the community and collect feedback to inform service planning.
why we do it
Community matters
We work closely with local health and social service providers to connect the services in the west with consumers, share health information with the community and collect feedback to inform service planning.
What are our vision and values?
Our vision
Our vision is for community involvement in healthcare decision making processes to become part of the culture of our healthcare organisations and communities.
Short-term consultation processes will no longer happen as structures and networks will be firmly established to foster ongoing dialogue between the community and healthcare providers.
Community—serving the West Auckland Community is at the heart of all we do.
Effectiveness—our aim is to make a positive difference in our community.
Inclusiveness—we celebrate the diversity in our community by including everyone.
Transparency—we are open and honest in all we do.
Respect—we acknowledge the value of all groups and individuals that comprise our community
Some feedback from our users
“I have been involved with Waitakere Health Link and Health Link North for some years now and been impressed by the growth of both. It is a privilege to work with these people.
Their connections with the wider community are strong and relevant which gives them a great platform to advocate on consumer concerns. With their growth, so have their professionalism, efficiency, and communication skills making them an essential resource for the WDHB.”
Judith Lunny
“Research evidence shows that involving patients and their whānau/family in the co-design of health services leads to improving health outcomes and addressing social inequalities. However, re-orienting our community health services so they include patients’ and their whānau/family’s voices is an on-going challenge. Health consumer networks that embrace a community development approach and have strong community links are ideally placed to assist navigate this uncharted terrain.
Waitakere Health Link plays an important role in developing regional capacity to reorient health services, so they become more patient and whānau/family friendly. Diverse health consumers’ voices are affirmed by the support that Waitakere Health Link both offers and provides. As a health consumer representative I have certainly benefitted from such affirmation.”
Judy Blakey