PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSONThe five-year delay between the opening of the new Dunedin hospital’s outpatient building and the inpatient building will lead to a multitude of staffing and operational issues, a bombshell government report says. The report says the outpatient building will be completed in July and then have a 10-week ‘‘handover’’ period. However, it could face staffing issues, logistical issues if staff were ‘‘split’’ across two buildings and funding issues if money was not made available for contingencies in the handover. ‘‘But now there’s a five-year gap between the opening of outpatient building and the other building. So how do you make that function effectively?’’There did not appear to be a proper staffing or recruitment plan for the opening of the outpatient building and beyond, Ms Dalton said.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 02, 2026 15:35 UTC