The new acute services building at Christchurch Hospital, now known as Christchurch Hospital Hagley, was due for completion in 2019. (Video first published in December 2018)

Intensive care is among the units at Christchurch's new $500 million hospital fast-tracked to help the city's coronavirus response.

The Ministry of Health handed over the 36-bed intensive care unit (ICU) in the new Christchurch Hospital Hagley building to the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) on Monday. The entire rebuild was supposed to have been completed in 2018, but has been beset by delays.

Health Minister David Clark said on Monday the CDHB aimed to have the unit operational and available to patients later next week.

Concerns have been raised about the number of ICU beds in New Zealand. A ministry audit showed there are 153 beds in public hospitals, but that could be expanded to just over 560 by co-opting space in other units.

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In Italy, ICUs have been overwhelmed by the number of seriously unwell people with Covid-19, meaning doctors have been forced to make difficult choices about who to admit.

Clark said ICU capacity was a "priority area" as part of the Covid-19 health response.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF Parts of the new Christchurch Hospital Hagley building will be handed over to Canterbury health authorities this week.

"As we expect the number of cases to continue to increase this week, it's vital our health services can respond effectively," he said.

The ministry was also working with CPB, the head contractor on the build, and the CDHB to enable access to ED Radiology and associated spaces within the next two weeks.

A series of changes and issues resulted in the bulding's completion date being pushed out, ramping up pressure on the CDHB. Earlier this year, it was revealed 7000 passive fire defects had been discovered in the building and needed to be fixed.

Stuff reported earlier this month the ministry, which has responsibility for the project, and the CDHB had been in talks to try access parts of the unfinished building early to boost intensive care and inpatient capacity.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Health Minister David Clark says the ICU beds are being fast-tracked so they are available to treat Covid-19 patients.

The discussions occurred in the context of the coronavirus response. However, a ministry spokeswoman said at the time no decisions had yet been made and it would depend on finishing works and commissioning being completed.

The new hospital has an intensive care unit with space for 28 adults and 8 children. It has 413 inpatient beds, 12 operating theatres and 18 negative pressure rooms, which are used to treat people with infectious diseases. The existing ICU at Christchurch Hospital has 23 beds. Last year it had more patients than dedicated beds several times.

Stuff revealed last week the CDHB had access to about 50 ventilators at Christchurch Hospital, meaning it can potentially double its existing 23 bed ICU to accommodate Covid-19 patients who become seriously unwell.

It is not clear when the new Christchurch Hospital Hagley building will be fully completed. The new hospital also has a helipad on its roof, which will drastically cut the time it takes for acute patients who are airlifted to hospital to be admitted.

As of 9am Monday, there were 49 Covid-19 cases in Canterbury.