As staff came rushing to help, King instinctively filmed video of what happened from outside the ED, telling the Herald she knew the man\u2019s wh\u0101nau would have questions.<\/p>\n
Ian Martin, Health NZ\u2019s medical director of medicine at Waikato Hospital, confirmed that a \u201cserious adverse event\u201d review is underway and is expected to be completed \u201cwithin two months\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to offer our sympathies to the family of the deceased. We have spoken with them … and we are continuing to offer them support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Herald has seen two video clips of events at the ED and decided not to broadcast the video out of respect for the family of the deceased.<\/p>\n
A man is rushed from the Waikato Hospital emergency department waiting room on a hospital gurney. <\/p>\n
One video, timestamped 1.13am on Tuesday, shows a staff member on top of a man on a hospital gurney, urgently performing chest compressions as he is rushed from the waiting room.<\/p>\n
Another video taken moments before staff attempted CPR shows staff holding up a white sheet around the man as others in the packed waiting room looked on.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty upsetting and sad. I feel for the wh\u0101nau,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n
Scenes from Waikato ED when a man collapsed and died in the waiting room on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
King said the ED waiting room was \u201cpacked\u201d with around 30 to 40 patients. She didn\u2019t blame staff who, she believed, \u201cdid their best\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not their fault because they\u2019re understaffed,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel for the nurses having tried their best and not being able to succeed, and I also feel for the wh\u0101nau that had to answer that phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n
A staff member administers chest compressions on top of a man as he’s wheeled out of the emergency department on a hospital gurney.<\/p>\n
Chaotic scenes: \u2018Check the pulse\u2019<\/p>\n
Grace Minardo was also at the ED with her husband and 2-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
They were sitting near the ED toilets when her husband got up to use one. He noticed one of the toilet doors was closed but not locked.<\/p>\n
Minardo said her husband opened the door and saw the man leaning backwards on the toilet seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got a fright and came out and said, \u2018There is someone who has fallen asleep\u2019, because that\u2019s what he thought had happened,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n
Grace Minardo says there were chaotic scenes as staff tried to revive the man.<\/p>\n
She then told a nurse someone appeared to be asleep in the toilet, and the nurse alerted the front desk.<\/p>\n
Minardo went to use another, unoccupied toilet when, she said, \u201cthe doctors came running\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard a whole lot of commotion: \u2018Pass me the adrenaline. Check the pulse; there is no pulse\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of people, and everybody was very upset.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her husband was traumatised and having flashbacks after finding the man and she felt upset for the man\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a horror situation. It should not have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minardo said she and her family waited at the ED for nine hours to be seen, but others had been waiting for up to 13 hours.<\/p>\n
She wanted to see \u201cdrastic and quick\u201d action from health authorities to fix the \u201cshocking\u201d waiting times.<\/p>\n
Staff at Waikato Hospital’s emergency department aren’t coping. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
\u2018He was asking for help\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier in the night, King said she saw the man in pain and speaking to staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was asking for help. He was complaining about how he\u2019d been waiting for such a long time. He was asking staff for some type of medication because he was in pain,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n
The Herald revealed on Tuesday<\/a> concerns from a hospital worker who said the man spent \u201cnine hours waiting\u201d to be seen.<\/p>\n The source said they wanted the information published because they feared \u201cmore lives will be lost\u201d unless pressure was put on Health New Zealand.<\/p>\n King corroborated the information from the hospital worker saying the man was at the ED for nine to 10 hours.<\/p>\n She believed this was about a lot more than a single tragic event. <\/p>\n \u201cIt reflects a health system that has been under immense pressure for years. Our hospitals have faced ongoing staff shortages … and too many dedicated healthcare workers feel exhausted, undervalued and underpaid.\u201d<\/p>\n The warning signs<\/p>\n The Herald revealed on Monday that Waikato Hospital received more than 300<\/a> patients at the ED in a single day last month.<\/p>\n Not even in the depths of winter, June 8 was the busiest day ED nurse Tracy Chisholm had seen in her career.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the worst day I\u2019ve seen in 18 years. It was standing room only,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Chisholm, who spoke to the Herald in her capacity as a delegate for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), said the situation put patients at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cWe brought out extra chairs … and there were still people standing. It was at capacity,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n Her colleague, NZNO president Anne Daniels, said the organisation was \u201cextremely concerned\u201d that Waikato ED is \u201cdangerously understaffed\u201d. <\/p>\n She believed the Government\u2019s \u201cpatch-up\u201d jobs to arrest the issues didn\u2019t go far enough.<\/p>\n Health Minister Simeon Brown said the death was a \u201cterrible situation\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked whether it was acceptable that a patient had been waiting nine hours, Brown said \u201cclearly, it\u2019s not good enough\u201d.<\/p>\n Brown refused to say whether he could guarantee such an incident would not happen again.<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart goes out to the family and loved ones of the person who has died,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time a patient has died while waiting at a hospital emergency department. <\/p>\n In 2024, the Herald revealed the case of Tony Knott<\/a> who died in a toilet while waiting to be assessed at Middlemore Hospital\u2019s \u201cseverely overcrowded\u201d emergency department. <\/p>\n His family told the Herald they believed his death was preventable, and that he \u201cfell through the cracks in a broken system\u201d. <\/p>\n Herald OIA data<\/p>\n Data obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act 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.<\/p>\n However, while the national total, which includes corporate staff, was edging upwards, the data shows<\/a> some districts saw a decrease in frontline staff such as nurses and senior medical officers.<\/p>\n The Herald asked Brown last month why some districts showed staff decreases, but he said the overall national total was the most important figure. <\/p>\n He said the Herald\u2019s national data on health worker numbers showed the Government was making progress.<\/p>\n \u201cThere 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,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n Neither the NZNO nor the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine believed that was a fair reflection of the reality. <\/p>\nTracy Chisholm is a delegate for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and has worked at Waikato Hospital’s Emergency Department for 18 years. Photo \/ Mike Scott <\/p>\n
Health Minister Simeon Brown says ED staff numbers show progress is being made. <\/p>\n