Warriors’ spark health crisis

redirected to local care clinics or have to contend with very long waiting times because ‘‘our ED is simply too busy to see these’’.

Midcentral District Health Board hospital services operations director Lyn Horgan added that serious patients would be prioritised. ‘‘We encourage people to keep the emergency department for emergencies only,’’ she said.

Kiwi sports players are brought up learning the legendary stories of Wayne Shelford and Colin Meads, playing on with broken arms – and worse.

But it is not broken arms, shattered ankles or even torn scrotums which are clogging up the emergency department, but strains and sprains.

Waitohi Rugby Football Club president Rob Beattie, of Picton, said managerial staff had a duty of care for players.

‘‘You have to be careful with how bad it is. Where do you draw the line?’’ he said. ‘‘If it’s swollen, how do you know whether it’s broken. ‘‘This is why they are doctors and nurses, to determine that.’’

Wellington’s Wests Rugby chairman Tony Walsh said undersourced EDs were an issue faced in Wellington, with one player waiting six hours for eyebrow stitches last week.

The community rugby club represented suburbs west of Wellington, and Walsh said he understood why some people were quick to have their injuries examined.

‘‘Players are more injuryconscious these days. When you’re talking about concussions there has been a shift in mindset for the long-term impact of injuries,’’ he said.

‘‘I wouldn’t describe it as players going soft, it is the awareness of the long-lasting impact these injuries can have.’’

Janine Jordaan, Marlborough Netball Centre manager, says she’s seen a shift in how players approach injury. ‘‘Players go to the emergency department as a precaution, a lot of the times it’s because of a scare.’’

Wairau Hospital in Blenheim is asking winter sports players to rethink their recovery after the hospital had nearly twice the ED patients of the national average per capita this time last year. Hospital bosses have now launched a campaign to lower that number.

Emergency medicine specialist Andrew Morgan says the message was getting across but athletes were prime offenders in heading straight to ED when hurt.

‘‘Quite often people arrive at ED having clearly come straight off the playing field. They are still in uniform, muddy and haven’t taken the basic first aid steps,’’ he said.

While after-hours medical clinics remained an option, some sporting clubs were concerned the request for players to determine the severity of injuries could lead to incorrect self-diagnosis.