A survey of health practitioners across New Zealand has highlighted inadequate staffing and provision of services for paediatric respiratory care. Responses (n =23) were obtained from 17 hospitals, of which only three (located in main centres) employed respiratory- and sleep-specialist senior medical officers. Paediatricians with an interest in respiratory care were evenly distributed, with low numbers reported in the Northern region, Wellington and Canterbury. Senior nurse staffing was generally consistent across the country, except in the Northern region. However, allied health staffing was inconsistent, with many districts in the Te Manawa Taki region reporting little or no respiratory physiotherapy staff. More than half of all districts across the country had limited or no access to videofluoroscopic swallow studies, as well as poor access to chest computed tomography scanning under general anaesthesia.
