Patients too often must spend hours in the waiting room because they are not critically ill.
Others can be left in corridors because there are no free beds. Long waits to see a doctor are not uncommon.
There is little privacy. The noise of other people’s suffering and the machines beeping only add to the desperate atmosphere.
Unless lives are on the line, it’s a place best avoided. But that’s not always possible.
Tuesday’s tragedy is eerily like the case of 82-year-old Tony Knott, who died in a toilet while waiting to be assessed at Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department in April 2021.
But the warning signs at Waikato Hospital were already evident before Tuesday’s tragedy.
The Herald reported the day before that staff had serious concerns about patient safety and long waits at Waikato’s ED.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate Tracy Chisholm spoke out, saying that on June 8 the department was overwhelmed with 300 patient presentations.
It was the “worst day” she had seen in 18 years.
Dr Michael Connelly, chairman of the New Zealand National Council for the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, says many EDs are operating at or above capacity amid “persistent” staff shortages, and “maldistribution” of staff.
He says ED overcrowding is increasing because of an ageing patient population, and ongoing issues with “bed block” – when those waiting in EDs can’t be admitted because hospital wards are full.
The cost-of-living crisis will also be a factor. Some people cannot afford health insurance or to visit a GP. Some people must wait too long to see their GP. The dreaded ED waiting room is their only option.
RNZ reported that emergency doctors are warning of a rapidly worsening hospital crisis, with the winter flu season yet to reach its peak and hospitals already struggling to cope.
The Government introduced five major health targets in 2024. One was that 95% of patients would be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours.
But the system is falling short, with only 74.4% of patients hitting that mark in the January to March quarter this year.
Health Minister Simeon Brown maintains there are more frontline staff and more nurses working in our emergency departments than ever before, and patients are being seen and treated faster as a result.
Official Information Act data backs this up and shows that from September 2024 to December 2025, the total number of ED staff across all 20 health districts nationally increased by 294, from 5527 to 5821.
However, this includes corporate staff, and some districts had a drop in frontline staff.
The Government’s total health funding budget in 2026/27 is $33.031 billion. This is an increase of $2.556 billion, or 8.4% compared with the previous year.
Hospital and specialist services receive $15.995b.
The Government allocated a $5.5b increase for frontline health services in this year’s Budget.
However, the problem with the health system, and hospitals in particular, is that this is not enough. More money is needed to meet demand.
The doctors, nurses and other frontline staff are heroes, working in incredibly difficult circumstances. They are doing their best, but there are not enough of them.
Health is one of the country’s most important priorities, and we need to have confidence that our EDs and hospitals are properly resourced.
Can the Government find more money for emergency departments? Of course it can. But to achieve that, it needs to divert spending from other areas and avoid waste.
The current situation is unacceptable. We need more doctors and nurses. All our hospitals must be fit for purpose.
Whatever shape the Government takes after November’s election, it needs to make better financial decisions to improve frontline public health services.