Newshub understands the preliminary report into the death of Māori woman and her unborn child at Palmerston North Hospital earlier this year found the outcome could have been different if critical care had been initiated earlier.
We can also reveal an external review into Palmerston Hospital found its ICU "falls short in almost every area that it could objectively be assessed" with the reviewer writing "it surprises me that it has not been shut down".
In February, a pregnant Māori woman and her unborn baby died in Palmerston North Hospital. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has described it as "devastating".
She arrived with signs of sepsis but wasn't admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for hours.
"In general terms, with sepsis, that certainly may be progressing, you do want to advance that to critical care just as soon as you possibly can and it's always made more complicated when it's during a pregnancy, because fundamentally there are two lives to take into account," said National's health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti.
The deaths have been referred to the coroner.
Health New Zealand refused an interview, but in a statement, the MidCentral interim district director Dr Jeff Brown.said this was a "tragic event" and that "a comprehensive clinical review is well underway".
"How the escalation of how people who have sepsis are dealt with is precisely what that report should cover," said associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall.
A source has told Newshub the preliminary report into the tragedy was damning in its assessment, implicating a specific staff member's actions that day, finding if critical care had been given following the woman's initial assessment, the outcome probably would have been different.
Health New Zealand wouldn't reveal the ICU's occupancy rate on the day the woman was there.
But Newshub has obtained occupancy data for all of February. The average occupancy for the month was only 41 percent, but on one day it got as high as 71 percent.
National's health spokesperson said bed occupancy is only one part of the equation.
"This'll almost certainly come down to health workforce shortages," said Dr Reti.
The hospital's ICU troubles are not new.
A 2019 external service review of the ICU obtained by Newshub under the Official Information Act found: "This unit falls short in almost every area that it could objectively be assessed."
The reviewer wrote "it surprises me that it has not been shut down on any number of mandatory grounds" including "health and safety" and "infection control".
It recommended "a new ICU facility be built as soon as possible". The hospital has not yet responded to our questions about whether or not the facilities have since been upgraded.
"I've been concerned about Palmerston North Hospital, about MidCentral, for some time… they're really challenged and they've been putting their hand up for a while saying 'we are struggling'," said Dr Reti.
They're struggles that have left a whānau grieving.
