Nurses say North Shore ED 'feral', patients left in soiled beds

<p>Patients are waiting in soiled beds at North Shore Hospital's emergency department and nurses say conditions are so bad it feels feral.</p> <p><b>By Rowan Quinn of </b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/1092928/absolute-nightmare-patients-left-waiting-in-soiled-beds-at-north-shore-emergency-department" target="_blank"><b>RNZ</b></a></p> <p>One hundred and twenty nurses have written to Health NZ chief executive Dale Bramley, saying the ED is in its own state of emergency.</p> <p>Health NZ had failed to plan properly for winter and had not hired the nurses it had agreed to, the letter said.</p> <p>North Shore ED charge nurse Jean Classey told RNZ the ED had been so busy it felt "feral", with people unable to even fit in the waiting rooms.</p> <p>It was hard seeing people crammed into corridors, and brightly lit public spaces with no privacy.</p> <p>Sometimes incontinent people were waiting in wet beds until nurses could find a space to change them, she said</p> <p>"It's an absolute nightmare.