2. Question No. 2—HealthDr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 2—Health2. Dr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Health: When he reportedly admitted recently there were gaps in hospital preparations for the Delta outbreak what were those gaps?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): I draw the member's attention to my original statement reported in the New Zealand Herald on 4 September 2021 where I said—and I quote—Most of the DHBs have done an extraordinary amount to be ready and prepared and they have been. Some things I think could have been done a little better. There was extra funding provided last year and an online module for more nurses to do ICU learning so that they could go into an ICU environment if they were called for. Some DHBs got on top of it. Others haven't so much." However I will note that in response to the recent Delta outbreak all DHBs have accelerated the training of additional nurses in ICU skills to ensure sufficient nurses are available. Last year all DHBs were urged also to ensure their health workforce were properly fit tested for the P2/N95 masks. Many fulfilled that request but some have not completed the task just yet.Dr Shane Reti: What gaps were there in the pathway from the emergency department to isolation at Middlemore Hospital that resulted in a subsequently coronavirus-positive patient being placed in a shared room with other people including a 91-year-old man?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The information available is that the patient that the member refers to was tested the day after he was admitted to hospital and returned a positive test. It's not quite clear how that could have been detected without a test having been conducted at the time that it was.Dr Shane Reti: How many staff at Middlemore had been asked to isolate due to this event?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I'm not familiar with that number except to say that Middlemore Hospital and the Counties Manukau District Health Board are doing an exemplary job in managing the pressure that they are under with COVID-19 running their COVID-19 wards and making sure that their staff are kept safe with the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).Dr Shane Reti: Does he consider this event to be serious and if so why does he not know the number of staff who may be required to isolate?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Any patient who turns up to hospital with and detected with COVID-19 is a serious matter. We have geared up a system to deal exactly with that. That's why I went through the measures that DHBs have been required to go through and it's why additional supplies of PPE and the appropriate training to go with that PPE—and the additional support given to staff to manage that—have been put in place. Dr Shane Reti: Have there been any other incidents during the current outbreak where people in hospital waiting for a coronavirus test result have been placed in a shared space with general patients while they wait?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well it's not possible to say whether or not that is the case. Our response to COVID-19 is that anybody who is symptomatic or anybody who has been in a location of interest should get tested and do get tested. That is the way we keep track of what is happening and that is the way we have managed the response for the current Delta variant outbreak that we're dealing with right now.Dr Shane Reti: Should people in hospital who are being tested for coronavirus be placed on a general ward with other people?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well people typically don't go to hospital to be tested. If they want to be tested they go to other places. But people turn up to hospital because they have other healthcare needs. And in this case a patient turned up because he had other healthcare needs was subsequently tested and returned a positive test."