Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
A Thames man whose wife needed urgent treatment for a back injury on Monday night says Waikato Hospital was so overwhelmed, patients were waiting up to 10 hours for treatment in the emergency room and outside in ambulances.
The couple's experience comes after Waikato had one of its worst days ever in July when almost every ambulance in the region was parked up waiting up to four hours to get into the emergency department (ED).
The man, who RNZ has agreed to refer to as Stephen, said he found himself in a desperate situation on Monday night when his wife suffered a serious back injury while she was gardening.
"She was actually in the A&E and they said, 'Look, we can't do any more for her in Thames. She's got to go across to Waikato, there's no ambulances available, can you take her with all the papers?'"
Stephen responded that he would do whatever was needed and drove his wife 100km to Waikato Hospital, arriving just after 6pm.
He told RNZ he was dismayed at the pressure on hospital staff - who were doing their best in a chaotic situation - and he wondered what changes were being made.
They were accepting new patients every three minutes, in the 12 hours from 5pm on Monday - 215 patients in all.
"There were a couple of guys with mangled hands, one had run a skilsaw through his fingers and like us they just sat in the waiting room for hour after hour.
"We were sitting beside one guy. He wanted to know how long we'd been there. He said, 'I came in yesterday. I got sent away and my GP just sent me straight back. I've really been here off and on for 48 hours trying to get help."
"I've really been here off and on for 48 hours trying to get help" - patient at the Waikato Hospital ED
While they waited in the busy ED, a nurse told the couple they had seven ambulances outside that were being used as mobile A&E clinics. They could not be unloaded and patients were being treated within the ambulances.
Stephen said patients were frustrated, including one who came in and said he had been sitting in the back of an ambulance for hours, preventing the ambulance from going out on other calls.
He said the health system can't cope.
"It wasn't a complete surprise. I know the whole health system in New Zealand is really overwhelmed. Just don't seem to have the systems in place to cope with the numbers of people who need the health system."
First Up contacted Hato Hone St John and Waikato Hospital to find out whether these waiting times were out of the ordinary.
Hato Hone St John acting general manager ambulance operations Ben Lockie said there had been a lower level of ramping over the last four weeks, however, Monday had proved a "high ramping day" with 48 hours of ramping.
The average time at hospital for ambulance transports had been 65 minutes that day, compared with the average of just under 50 minutes over the last five months.
"On average, Hato Hone St John anticipates it will take 30 minutes from the time when an ambulance arrives at hospital until it 'clears' (or departs) the hospital and is available to respond to another incident. Any time spent in excess of 30 minutes is considered ramping," Lockie said in a statement.
He said St John was working closely with Te Whatu Ora to try and find some solutions.
When demand exceeded capacity, it also set up an ambulance waiting area within the ED, to safely unload some patients to an area managed jointly by its crews and Te Whatu Ora nursing staff.
It also transferred some patients to medical centres and other healthcare providers, if it was safe.
Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand Waikato interim group director operations hospital and specialist services Michelle Sutherland said the ED was fully staffed on Monday.
The average wait time in the ED that day was slightly longer than usual - four-and-a-half hours instead of just under four hours.
"While the 10-hour wait experienced by this patient is not ideal, from 5pm on Monday to 5am on Tuesday an additional 215 patients presented to our ED, making it a very busy period."
She added Te Whatu Ora recognised it was frustrating for patients to have to wait for long periods, and it was also difficult for staff who wanted to provide a good service.
Stephen did not want to criticise hospital staff, but he did want to point out how much pressure they were under.
"The staff were amazing. They were doing everything they can - I just want to make that really clear.
"The staff were smiling at everyone, comforting, trying to calm people down, working with what they had, but there's just nowhere near enough of them."