Christchurch hospital patient trapped in lift hours after $525 ER area opened

A patient on the move in Waipapa. Photo / Supplied

A hospital patient must have been trapped in a lift for 47 minutes – just hours is often a $525 million building’s ER program opened.

Christchurch’s Waipapa building opened its doors this week / but an emergency department visit reached a halt for one patient.

Canterbury DHB’s Doctor Rob Ojala says a sensor issue halted the elevator trip as a patient was being transported connecting wards – trapping them and too a staff member until it was fixed.

He says staff reassured the confined patient – yet well-placed Waipapa staff rapidly taken care of immediately the hitch.

“We can confirm one of the lifts into Waipapa did malfunction for a short period of time this morning due to an issue with its sensor.

“This involved currently the lift stopping while a staff part was transporting a patient between wards via the lift. The other lifts into the facility were unaffected.

“The lift company was in fact called and the malfunction lasted sixty minutes 50 minutes.

“During this time staff worked up to reassure those affected and they were initially subsequently able to continue on their drive through the new facility.

“The project team have been working very hard to ensure everything in Waipapa is ready for patient occupation, combined with where issues are encountered they is well placed to respond rapidly.

“We are fulfilled the lift has been repaired plus is now fully operational again. very well