Tauranga Hospital Emergency Department nurses declare state of emergency
Nurses at Tauranga Hospital have declared a state of emergency due to chronic understaffing and overcrowding. The union reports that staff are frequently operating at over 150% capacity, leading to dangerous conditions for patients.
Why it matters
This highlights the critical strain on public healthcare systems and the potential for patient safety risks in under-resourced emergency departments.
Nurses at Tauranga Hospital have declared a state of emergency after a patient collapsed in the Emergency Department waiting room.
More than 100 New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) members and ED nursing staff wrote to Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s chief executive and the Midland/Te Manawa Taki region’s executive director on September 8.
They called for urgent recruitment, saying “exceptional demand” has become their “daily reality”.
The chief executive acknowledged the department’s pressures and asked the executive director to meet with the union by September 22 to implement a plan that includes increased staffing.
It comes after a Tauranga Hospital ED doctor called for “double” the number of beds because patients were “in corridors 24/7” .
Health NZ said a “significantly larger” ED was planned for the hospital as part of a planned redevelopment .
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