Recruitment drive allows 24-hour surgery slowly to return to normal

Staff shortages that forced Christchurch’s only 24-hour medical centre to close its doors to patients overnight have been eased slightly, allowing the clinic’s hours to be extended.

The centre hopes to return to operating fully around the clock again early next year after recruiting 10 new permanent full-time nurses and three new permanent full-time healthcare assistants.

From tomorrow, operating hours of 8am to 10pm daily are being extended so that the Madras St clinic will remain open overnight entirely on Sunday and Monday evenings into the following days.

This will see the 24-Hour Surgery open from 8am Sunday until 10pm on Tuesday without closing, before returning to the current reduced hours for the remainder of the week.

The successful recruitment campaign has allowed limited overnight shifts to be staffed, clinical director Jasmine Mackay said.

“We have chosen to increase our hours based on the times when the 24 Hour Surgery and the emergency department are typically busiest,” she said.

“We are aiming to progressively extend the number of nights we are open until we resume normal operating early next year.”

Mackay said unseen events, such as staff sickness, could still see temporary reductions in those hours, and asked for “continued patience and support”.

The Pegasus Health-owned clinic faced impromptu closures after finding itself overwhelmed with patients and staff shortages over the winter, before closing overnight indefinitely in September.

Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department also grappled with record numbers last winter, with 10% more patients than in 2022 and 60 more per day than previous years.

Over the Christmas and New Year period the 24-Hour Surgery will not be open overnight and will return to current 8am-10pm hours each day from December 24 to January 3.

New operating hours coming into effect from tomorrow are:

■ Sunday: 8am to midnight.

■ Monday: Open 24 hours.

■ Tuesday: 12am to 10pm.

■ Wednesday to Saturday: 8am to 10pm.