Emergency pressures at hospital

Palmerston North Hospital needs an emergency department twice as big as its recently upgraded facility to cope with surging numbers of patients.

The department has seen 47,000 people in the past year, an increase of 6 per cent in a year, with seven more people coming in each day than a year ago, and one in five still waiting for admission or discharge after six hours.

Midcentral District Health Board chief executive Kathryn Cook said the department, which has had a $1.9 million upgrade, was still much too small for the population it served.

And clinical executive for acute and elective specialist services David Sapsford said it would be good if it could be ‘‘twice as big by tomorrow’’.

But any extension is not going to happen until the board has Government approval and funding to go ahead with building a $197m new acute clinical services block.

Chairman of the board’s health and disability advisory committee Karen Naylor asked whether there was any way the emergency department could be dealt with ahead of that project, in light of the intense pressures the department was facing.

But Cook said the appropriate time was as part of the whole block, with its range of new facilities,

‘‘It’s the place to come when you are hurt or very unwell.’’ Jeff Brown Acting chief medical officer

including imaging services, theatres and intensive care, that would enable staff to provide better care.

Acting chief medical officer Jeff Brown reassured the public. ‘‘It’s the place to come when you are hurt or very unwell. Don’t stay away.’’

Brown said there were systems and processes to help deal with often ‘‘unpredictable surges’’ of patients until a new building was provided.

Operations executive for acute and elective specialist services Lyn Horgan said extra nurses had been put on triage duties and an extra registered nurse had been rostered on the night shift.

Hospital chaplain Sandie Ramage was also making regular visits to support busy staff and waiting patients.

Nursing and midwifery executive director Celina Ewes said when the department was on code red, as it was on Sunday, staff from throughout the hospital worked to help, assess and move patients through the system.

Horgan said senior doctors would come to the department to pre-empt requests for specialist assessment of some patients.