Hospitals saw 'spikes' during 2011 Rugby World Cup

The department saw 7419 patients during the 2011 tournament, an 8 per cent increase in overall adult emergency department activity. Photo / File

The Rugby World Cup brought a spike in workload at Auckland City Hospital's emergency department, a NZ Medical Journal report says.

The department saw 7419 patients during the 2011 tournament, an 8 per cent increase in overall adult emergency department activity.

Several "dramatic spikes" included the opening ceremony on September 9, when larger-than-anticipated crowds turned out in the city centre fan zone and there were difficulties due to a railway incident and a major road traffic accident.

A second spike happened around the RWC final between the All Blacks and France on October 23, which lasted several hours and some patients had to be diverted to other departments.

Most of the problems were alcohol related; such cases were more prominent at weekends (15 per cent of cases) and comprised half of all attendances in the four hours after the final.

Michael Ardagh, a University of Otago professor of emergency medicine, said the report raised an important question: "While many profited from this event, why did the health system incur a cost?"

He said Statistics NZ noted financial gains were made from the tournament, including an increase in gross domestic product from increased international visitor arrivals, transport demands, and overall spending.

"Of course, the purveyors of alcohol are likely to have made a killing," Professor Ardagh said. "Are we happy that, while the health system pays and its customers suffer, others are profiting from the Rugby World Cup?"

New Zealand Rugby said it did not make any profits from RWC 2011 and the tournament ran at a $30 million loss, of which it incurred $10 million.