Health
1News

Big changes needed to fix strained hospital emergency wards in NZ, expert says

August 15, 2018

Public Health Association CEO Warren Lindberg is urging people to only show up to A&E in a true emergency.

Auckland City Hospital’s emergency department admissions are hitting record numbers, prompting officials yesterday to take the rare step of urging the public to only show up in the case of serious emergencies.

But the system itself needs to be fixed so that there is less incentive to choose an A & E over a GP, says Public Health Association CEO Warren Lindberg.

"It is a public health issue. The problem is .. access to alternatives," he told TVNZ1’s Breakfast today.

"When you look at the options for many people, there are some barriers. The main one for many people is cost. If they have to go to a private A&E department, they can be quite expensive."

Transportation and busy GPs are the two other main issues, he said.

"One that affects a lot of people, especially women, is you can't get the appointment with the GP when you want it," he explained. "GPs are also struggling to keep up with demand."

In a statement yesterday, the Auckland District Health Board said Auckland City Hospital’s emergency ward saw more than 1400 patients show up last week – up from 1290 in 2016.

"Many of the patients we see could have avoided hospitalisation if they had seen their GP when they first experienced symptoms," said Chief Medical Officer Dr Margaret Wilsher.

Getting children to their GP doesn’t seem to be as difficult because subsidies have removed the cost barrier, Mr Lindberg said today.

But the Government has delayed plans for cheaper GP visits for adults - a move he characterised as "a disappointment" but not entirely unexpected "given all the other demands on the Government for infrastructure in the health system".

"They have prioritised mental health and primary care," he said. "It’s just going to take them a while to figure out what’s the best way to address these issues."

In her statement yesterday, Dr Wilsher said those in genuine need of emergency care will continue to receive the same standard as usual. But she asked that "you help us by keeping the emergency department for serious emergencies".

Knowing when you’ve reached that point can be tough given our "she’ll be right" culture, Mr Lindberg acknowledged today.

"We’re encouraging people to take advantage of the public health services, but the services are all stretched," he said. "How anyone decides if the problem they’ve got is a real emergency and they really need to go to the ED – that’s a very personal challenge."

SHARE ME

More Stories