Health New Zealand's confirmed a person has died at the ageing Dunedin Hospital, while life-saving equipment was out of action

Southern chief medical officer David Gow's confirmed equipment failed in the hospital's cath lab - where vital heart procedures are carried out - last week.

He says staff are still waiting on a replacement part.

Gow says it's too early to say whether the death was linked to the equipment failing.

Local cardiologist Professor Gerard Wilkins has told the ODT, the equipment failure highlights the importance of a new Dunedin hospital.