Waikato Hospital posts ‘full up’ sign on ED door

Waikato Hospital was at full capacity yesterday and warning people to go to its Emergency Department only if it was a “real emergency”.

Elective surgeries other than cancer or other emergency operations were cancelled as the hospital dealt with the overflow of patients.

Patients slept on beds in the corridors of the ED on Monday night as there were no beds left in the wards.

The Waikato District Health Board posted a video on its Facebook page yesterday lunchtime telling patients to check with their GPs or call Healthline first and go to the emer- gency department only if it was a “real emergency”, or else be prepared for a long wait at the hospital.

“Today our Emergency Department at Waikato Hospital is in overload and Waikato Hospital is full,” the message said.

Waikato Hospital Services executive director Brett Paradine said that by the afternoon the ED was back to running at normal capacity and all patients had beds.

However, its message that the ED should be used only for emergencies still stood.

Paradine said the overload was due to a higher number of presentations than normal in the morning and fewer discharges than expected. Although patients slept in corridors they were “all cared for”.

The hospital has been at capacity several times this winter and Paradine put it down to an increase in a whole range of presentations, especially respiratory illness.

“The number of people coming to Waikato Hospital has increased 20 per cent over the last five years. Patients are also often sicker and consequently spending longer in the hospital, which is putting more pressure on hospital beds,” Paradine said.

The first new ward in five years, aimed at geriatric and rehab patients, opened last week and it is hoped the extra 27 beds will ease the pressure.

Waikato DHB has also enhanced theatre use and improved patient flow to deal with the influx.

Waikato Hospital is not the only hospital feeling the pressure.

Last month, Middlemore Hospital in Auckland put up a sign on the door of its ED telling patients the hospital was full and to expect delays of up to eight hours to be seen in the Emergency Department.

North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland City, Palmerston North and Hawke’s Bay hospitals have been at capacity at least once this winter.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said an overflow of patients meant senior doctors and other health professionals would be severely overworked and under considerable pressure.

“They will be working in a very difficult environment that is also stressful.”

Powell said the larger hospitals appeared to be increasingly reaching capacity and while the Waikato DHB had opened a new ward, it would only cater for a subset of the patients needing care.

Labour health spokesman David Clark said hospitals were reaching capacity too often.