The parents of a four-year-old who has been in Auckland's Starship Hospital most of her life, are demanding that she be able to come home.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Ana-Carolina was born a healthy baby girl but fell ill at five months, and cannot move or breathe without help.
She has a very rare condition: a chronic form of Guillain-Barré syndrome and a genetic condition.
She has been living at the Paediatric Intensive Care unit (PICU), with her parents often by her side.
"We firmly believe the best place for her is to live at home with her family as is done elsewhere round the world," her father, Peter Bircham, told Morning Report.
"There's no reason. She's been stable now for three years, her health has remained steady."
"Everybody wins if she is. It'd cost a fraction of what the DHB says it costs to keep her in hospital. It's better for the patient, it's better for the family and frees up a bed in Starship Hospital."
The Auckland DHB declined to be interviewed, saying privacy obligations mean it could not publicly discuss Ana-Carolina's needs or treatment.
But it said in a statement that it had been working towards getting Ana-Carolina to her own home since she was 18 months old, and was very hopeful that they would be able to facilitate it.
