Auckland City Hospital's newly expanded and upgraded adult emergency department opened its doors to patients earlier this morning, with a new triage area, added waiting areas, and additional consult rooms.
The upgrade construction cost about $9 million, taking about a year to complete, and now had a total ground floor area of 600 square metres - which was double that of the old ED, according to Health NZ's northern area head of infrastructure Chris Cardwell.
Health Minister Simeon Brown opened the new ED in a ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside representatives from Health NZ, Ngati Whatua, doctors and nurses.
"Prior to expansion, Auckland City Hospital's ED was cramped and outdated, with no additional space to create new rooms.
"Lack of clinical space, and a waiting area that was too small to accommodate the high volumes of patients, was contributing to an environment that was not optimal for those needing emergency care," Brown said.
Brown said a fit-for-purpose ED was essential for any hospital, particularly a high-demand ED like Auckland City Hospital's - which saw about 80,000 patients a year.
"The upgraded ED will feature a new reception, waiting area, clinical triage, consult rooms, and staff base, as well as improved designated drop off and parking areas and a new ambulance entry, this includes improved access to the adjacent Starship Children's ED," he said.
The service clinical director for adult ED, Mark Fredrickson, said the new space would make a big difference for staff and patients, from both a safety and healthcare perspective.
"If you saw our previous waiting room that we'd had, it was a very compact, overcrowded area which creates overcapacity.
"A lot of poor interactions between patients and our staff, and just not a very pleasant and safe environment for staff to be in," he said.
Fredrickson said he was hoping the new space would reduce the amount of patients being stuck in ED.
He said while the upgraded space may not fix all the issues, he expected it would improve things in a challenging healthcare system.
When asked whether the hospital will get additional staffing for the ED, Fredrickson said that was yet to be determined.
"We're working with Health NZ to get more staff over time, kind of, we need to embed our processes in, to see how much efficiency gain do we get from it, and if we need more staff, we're going to ask for more staff," he said.
According to Health NZ's second quarter performance report for 2024/2025, which included October to December last year, 72.1% of patients at EDs across the country were being seen within six hours.
The report showed that for the Auckland central area, covering Auckland City Hospital, Starship Children's Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre, 68.4% patients at ED were seen within that timeframe.
The Government's target was for 95% of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an ED within six hours by 2030.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
Scam Alert: Fake information regarding December Bonuses from MSD
The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’
If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.
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