Emergency units under pressure from minor illnesses

Annette King. File picture

People should go to their general practitioner for minor aches and pains rather than turn up at emergency departments that get stretched in winter, Health Minister Annette King said today.

Patients at Wellington Hospital's emergency department are spilling into hallways as resources are pushed to breaking point at the department.

The unit, which was opened only 4-1/2 years ago, had 161 patients on Monday. It is designed to cater for 120.

Ms King said Wellington had a problem with the size of its emergency department -- which has 22 cubicles -- although the hospital was saying relief would come when a new 14-bed facility opened in August.

"But obviously there are more people coming into the emergency department than they expected and that certainly puts a lot of pressure on them," she said.

"I think one of the reasons why they go public is to ensure that people go to the appropriate health professional.

"So if you've got an ache or pain the place to go is to your GP, not turning up at the emergency department."

Hospital department head Peter Freeman said cold weather and a number of people visiting the hospital instead of their GP were the main reasons for the increase in patients.

Ms King said she hoped the cost of visiting a doctor was not the reason people were going to emergency departments.

Costs had been reduced for people under 18 and over 65 years of age, although those outside those age brackets did face high costs visiting doctors.

However, she also said there was a tradition in New Zealand for people to go to emergency departments and in some areas there had been a "pattern" where people went there first. Some hospitals then sent the patients to a GP.

"We really need to keep the emergency services for emergencies," she said.

- NZPA