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"Prior to expansion, Auckland City Hospital's ED was cramped and outdated, with no additional space to create new rooms.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.
===================================================
A riddle to start the festive season 🌲🎁🌟
I'm a fruit. If you take away my first letter, I'm a crime. If you take away my first two letters, I'm an animal. If you take away my first and last letter, I'm a form of music. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Poll: Should we be giving the green light to new mining projects? 💰🌲
The Environmental Protection Authority announced this week that a proposed mine in Central Otago (near Cromwell) is about to enter its fast-track assessment process. A final decision could come within six months, and if it’s approved, construction might start as early as mid-2026.
We want to know: Should mining projects like this move ahead?
Keen to dig deeper? Mike White has the scoop.
-
53.2% Yes
-
46.8% No
Thousands of police warnings could be wiped because of protocol breaches
Thousands of formal warnings issued by police could be wiped from official records and compulsory training for all staff has been introduced because police haven't followed proper protocol for years, the Herald can reveal. Relying on formal warnings during police vetting has also been stopped nationwide because of the botch-up, and police are now inviting anyone who has concerns about a formal warning they've received to contact police and request a review of their records.
The background: Deficiencies in the formal warning system were first identified in 2021, after a High Court judge found the way warnings were issued breached the law. Central to the court’s ruling was that police didn’t understand that for a formal warning to be issued, a suspect must accept responsibility for their offending, and there must be sufficient evidence to prove the offence. After that ruling, police said they’d review their policies. However, the Herald has learned that four years since flaws were first identified, significant issues remain. A review conducted last year found that of a sample of 467 warnings issued between 2019 and 2024, only 171 were compliant. Police said those found to have breached policy were then wiped from official records.
=======================================================
Loading…
