On 9 May, the Second Stage Recovery Unit (SSR) opened its doors to patients at Hutt Hospital.
Second Stage Recovery is a unit where we will monitor surgical patients who are expected to stay in hospital less than 24-hours post-operation. The unit holds eight adult beds, and we expect this will support 2,000 patients a year and free up some beds in the hospital.
The day before the opening, our Kaumatua Peter Jackson led a blessing and powhiri for the unit’s team.
Perioperative Charge Nurse Manager Pania Tuiloma said the new unit was “fantastic” and would free up much needed space in the hospital’s wards.
“I’m super excited. We could get over 2,000 patients through in a year, which will relieve that number of people from the surgical wards, so that’s enormous. It will also assist with the flow from the emergency department (ED) up to the wards, because often there is a backlog of patients waiting in ED who need ward surgical beds as there is no bed available in the ward for them. To see a hospital have the space to open a unit is very rare so having the SSR open and how it will help is wonderful.”
Second Stage Recovery has been described as Associate Charge Nurse Manager Maurita Wessels’ ‘baby’, although she credits the entire team for getting it up and running.
“I’m relieved more than anything that we have got this open,” laughed Maurita. “It’s been a little stressful because there’s a lot of things to put together and there was a little anxiety around how it would work for some people, but I’m very happy to see it up and running now.
“The thing is we need this. It’s going to help vulnerable people who just need an overnight stay after their surgery or if their surgery would have been cancelled because there are no beds in the wards. It’s all about the patients and the community and making sure people we can support people with the care they need in the most appropriate environments.”
