KEY POINTS:
Otago District Health Board has urged people to stay away from Dunedin Hospital's emergency department as it struggles with staffing shortages and winter illnesses.
Some patients attending the emergency department have had to wait nearly a day for a bed in a hospital ward, the Otago Daily Times reported.
Board chief operating officer Vivian Blake said unprecedented pressure on the emergency department meant the hospital was asking people not to attend that department until further notice, unless it was an actual emergency.
The demand for beds at the hospital was such that some recovering patients might be sent to motels or rest-homes at the board's expense to free up beds.
Mrs Blake said last night she did not know how many transfers of this type might occur.
The board would ensure such patients received appropriate care through its community nursing staff.
Rest-homes had been asked to "think carefully" before referring people to the department and were encouraged to seek general practitioner advice before making a decision about whether to send a resident.
The problem became political today with National Party health spokesman Tony Ryall saying Health Minister Pete Hodgson should get busy dealing with the crisis.
He said Labour had poured an extra $5 billion a year into health over the past eight years, but it had failed to properly engage the medical professionals on the best use of those extra billions.
"Those with long memories will recall Helen Clark promising to fix all these things," said Mr Ryall.
- NZPA
