Over the last couple of months, an average of more than
100 people a day have been arriving at Taranaki Base
Hospital’s Emergency Department.
Peaking at 120
patient presentations, the 23-bed ED facility was 30
patients over capacity last Tuesday creating a difficult
struggle to find beds for them in the hospital, says Te
Whatu Ora Taranaki interim chief operating officer, Katy
Sheffield.
“To prevent overcrowding and potentially
long wait times over the weekend, the Emergency Departments
at New Plymouth and Hawera hospitals are reminding everyone
to only present yourself to ED for emergencies such as
accidents, serious pain and trauma,” says Sheffield. “We are
also asking everyone to limit the number of support people
unless absolutely necessary as we need to limit people in
the department in our peak times for everyone’s
safety”
For non-serious presentations, the wait time
to be seen at ED can be up to four hours.
“You can
help ease long wait times by visiting other health services
for non-urgent health issues like colds, sprains and
infections,” says Sheffield. “If you’re unsure where to go
or who to see, please contact Healthline on 0800 611
116.”
© Scoop Media
Discussion about this post