Wellington Hospital has the worst electrical infrastructure in the country – report – Stuff.co.nz

Wellington Regional Hospital has the worst electrical infrastructure in the country, and ranks in the bottom three of the country's hospitals for its mechanical infrastructure.

Most of its high-voltage cables need replacing, as well as the main switchboard, and its site generators are in poor condition with replacement being investigated.

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The dire picture comes as part of a major stocktake of the country's hospitals, released on Wednesday.

It comes just a day after Wellington Hospital was forced to run its back-up generators after a Newtown power outage and years of issues with leaky pipes.

On top of the hospital's electrical problems, the report found its steam pipes and hot water storage were also in poor condition.

Rosa Woods/Stuff

General manager of corporate services Thomas Davis says the facilities and infrastructure are safe and will remain so while improvements take place. (File photo)

Stormwater drains, medical gases, heating pipes, fire water and cooling pipes, as well as windows and doors were described as in average to poor condition.

General manager of corporate services Thomas Davis said the DHB had not had time to fully consider the new report and wasn't able to comment in detail.

But he gave assurances the facilities and infrastructure were safe and would remain so while improvements took place.

CCDHB has a programme for the prioritisation and completion of planned and deferred maintenance," he said.

"This ensures our facilities and infrastructure undergo continued maintenance and management as our campus is upgraded through a staged programme of work."

Robert Kitchin/Stuff

Wellington Hospital was the only facility whose electrical infrastructure was rated as 'poor' in a new report.

Many of the issues won't be a surprise for users of the hospital, which has long been beleaguered by leaky pipes.

Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) is suing contractors after the hospital's pipes sprung 300 leaks in a debacle reported to have cost $19 million.

And every part of the hospital is due to shut down over the next six years as more than 28.7 kilometres of faulty copper pipes are replaced.

The DHB reported issues with Wellington Hospital's electrical infrastructure in 2017.

An independent report released to Stuff at the time painted a picture of tired infrastructure with a high potential for a complete outage to the hospital in a major emergency.

It found a "high risk of catastrophic failure" where patient and staff safety was at risk.

Kevin Stent/Stuff

A major stocktake of infrastructure at the country's hospitals says a fix-it bill of $14 billion is needed.

In the latest stocktake of hospital infrastructure, the Hutt Valley District Health Board and CCDHB were two of 10 DHBs found to have poor financial management systems.

Hawke's Bay DHB had electrical infrastructure which was near or beyond end of life, according to the report. Its high voltage supply had regular failures and its major switchgear was vulnerable to failure, affecting theatres.

Executive director of financial services Carriann Hall said the DHB aware of the issues.

It was working to upgrade the electrical systems and high voltage supply and was in the final stages of replacing its main electrical switchboard for the boiler house.

The report said many of the country's intensive care units, operating theatres and emergency departments were in "poor or very poor" shape - with a fix-it bill set at $14 billion over the next decade.

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Wellington Hospital has the worst electrical infrastructure in the country - report - Stuff.co.nz