17 Jun 2025
Patients being treated in cupboards, offices as hospital overcrowded
A senior doctor has claimed patients are being treated in cupboards, offices and tearooms as Whangarei hospital bursts at the seams. This comes ahead of a public meeting at Forum North in Whangarei to discuss the state of healthcare in Northland. Checkpoint has been told in the last fortnight there's been several examples of patients being put in makeshift beds or wards at Whangarei Hospital. Dr Marion Leighton works in General Medicine at Whangarei Hospital and will be at the meeting, she spoke to Lisa Owen.