The crisis around our hospital buildings and staff numbers is only going to get worse according to a new report.

The report revealed that one-fifth of hospital facilities in Auckland and Northland, including Starship Children's Hospital are beyond their life expectancy or "not fit for purpose".

This comes as more than 500,000 patients are expected to move to the regions in the next 20 years.

Resident Doctors Association national president Deborah Powell told Mike Yardley the problem extends beyond the Northern region.

"What I think the policymakers are grappling with is that the hope that if our lifestyle improves the need for people to be in hospital will reduce. The problem is that all those people who have smoked all their lives still need a hospital bed."

"I think the Northern area has been hit particularly hard and is feeling it because of the huge growth in population here which we aren't keeping up with, but no it's not restricted to the Northern regions have failed to invest in our infrastructure and health across the country."

She said the revelation that Starship Children's Hospital is one of those buildings is "worrying but not surprising".

"Anyone who has been to Starship will have realised the place is tatty, they would probably say, it's dirty they will have definitely noticed, and just no longer fit for purpose."

However, Whangarei Hospital has been labelled the "worst" with an 'out of date' hospital laboratory.

"The place [the lab] is medieval, there are bunsen burners on the benches, it's crowded, you can't fit machines in, we have our fridges in the corridor for goodness sake, it's just an old lab."

LISTEN ABOVE AS DEBORAH POWELL SPEAKS WITH MIKE YARDLEY