People are spending less time in the emergency departments of public hospitals, according to recent health results.
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For the first time, the Ministry of Health has reached its quarterly target of 95 percent of people spending fewer than six hours in emergency before being admitted, discharged or transferred.
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said the number of patients going through emergency departments doors continued to increase.
He said that, from January to March, 4481 more people went to an emergency department than in the same period last year.
People on the West Coast had the shortest waiting times, with 99 percent of patients spending less than six hours in emergency departments, while in Northland that figure was 91 percent.