Stephen Forbes/Stuff
Counties Manukau Health announced this week that Middlemore Hospital s emergency department had reached near capacity levels due to patients seeking treatment for non-urgent conditions.
Staff shortages, overcrowding and poor access to GPs is to blame for a plea by Middlemore Hospital for non-urgent patients to avoid its emergency department, a nurses college says. And while the pressure-cooker situation at the south Auckland hospital is a major concern, the College of Emergency Nurses NZ chair Sandy Richardson said it’s part of a bigger, nationwide problem. The group is part of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) union.
Staff shortages, overcrowding and poor access to GPs are being blamed for a plea by Middlemore Hospital for non-urgent patients to avoid its emergency department, a nurses college says.
Middlemore Hospital says its emergency department is only for people with life-threatening emergencies.
Photo: LDR
While the pressure-cooker situation at the South Auckland hospital is a major concern, the College of Emergency Nurses NZ chair Sandy Richardson said it s part of a bigger, nationwide problem. The group is part of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) union.
In a statement released on Monday the clinical director of Middlemore Hospital s emergency department (ED), Dr Vanessa Thornton, asked for the Counties Manukau community s assistance as the hospital s department was under pressure.