Emergency department staff fear being swamped over summer as increasing numbers of patients show up with Covid-19, as well as alcohol and drug-related illnesses.

Tuesday's case numbers last week showed another increase in Covid-19 cases, with almost 43,000 new cases reported over the past week.

It comes as thousands are set to descend on music festivals and concerts to see in the new year.

Emergency department clinical nurse Doug King says staff were already subjected to abuse from patients because of longer wait times, with spitting, screaming, throwing items, and threats among the recent abuse.

His department was seeing more 'very sick” people with Covid-19 come through, which put added stress on the department, as the hospital dealt with record numbers of patients.

Staff had been working overtime and King had been working 12 to 14-hour days to keep up.
The oncoming increase of patients during the summer months would most likely see them get 'swamped”.

'We don't know how things are going to go, and we're just hoping and praying we're going to get through it... There have been days where I've just walked outside and sat in the car and cried.”

King says short staffing remained a major reason for the increased pressure in EDs.

'When you turn up, you're supposed to have, you know, six or seven people rostered on, but there's two of you sitting in a room looking at each other. You go, oh s....”

Health Minister Andrew Little has announced a 'high power taskforce' tasked with clearing the long hospital backlogs.

During the outbreak in July, EDs were dealing with a twindemic of Covid-19 and flu that created consistent staffing issues in winter.

King stresses ED staff are doing their best.

'We will try to treat people as if they're one of our own family. And we want the best for them. But you start mouthing off and screaming and spitting and throwing things at staff it's just like, nah.”
'Just don't abuse the staff please. That's the biggest thing”.

At EDs in Wellington and Hutt hospitals, some patients were waiting longer than six hours to receive treatment, Te Whatu Ora Capital Coast & Hutt Valley provider services director Joy Farley says.

Staff absences caused by Covid-19 and other illnesses were named as a reason behind the longer wait times. Staff shortages was another factor.

Farley acknowledged the longer wait times could be distressing.

'While we understand patients' frustrations, we do encourage them to remember our teams will be working as hard as they possibly can to ensure people are treated as quickly as possible.”

The daily average patients at Wellington Hospital ED last week was 166 people, the same as the last week of July – in the height of winter. Hutt Hospital's ED was even busier, averaging, 149 patients a day for the previous week, compared with 128 each day in the last week of July.

Frances Chin/Stuff