"It's been running around about 140-something, which basically is running higher than we anticipated," Dr Sage said. "For us, 115 would be an average day normally, so nearly 150 for a weekday is pretty high."
Dr Sage said some aggressive patients had been "marched out" by hospital security but police had not been called and no staff had been physically assaulted.
"It's extremely busy at night at the moment and they're waiting excessive amounts of time, and with that they're starting to get a little shirty with us," he said.
Dr Sage had needed to make the call to roster a fourth doctor in the department on New Year's Eve - the busiest night of the year.
Staff were also expecting an influx later in the day on January 1, as revellers sobered up and realised they were injured.
He said overcrowding would be an issue and there was a possibility that if the Emergency Department became "jammed up", patients would be treated in a hospital ward.
"I would say that we could anticipate waiting anywhere between 4.5 to eight hours. Obviously, very sick people get seen sooner," he said.
Dr Sage said staff were also treating some minor ailments because people were saying they could not get in to see their doctor during the holidays.
However, some did little to help themselves, like washing wounds or taking pain killers before arriving at ED.
"They haven't even done the basics for themselves. There's a degree of helplessness about some people that turn up," he said.
Dr Sage said there were plenty of broken bones over Christmas but more from violence rather than accidents.
"It generally is the time of excess really and that's what we end up with," he said.
Meanwhile, Bayfair Doctors office manager Traci Meiring said the practice appeared to have been slightly quieter for the holiday period, except for Christmas Day.
The practice treated 70 casual patients on December 28, compared with 93 on the same day last year. On a normal Wednesday they would treat about 40, she said.
The receptionist at Tauranga's Accident & Healthcare described the practice as "extremely busy" when the Bay of Plenty Times called yesterday, but said the influx of patients over the holiday period had been about the same as last year.