New emergency department aims to end wait in corridors

Dr Hamish Hart believes the 2001 merger of the emergency department and the assessment and diagnostic unit caused most of the overcrowding problems. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Patients won't have to wait on trolleys in the emergency department's corridors at North Shore Hospital once its new emergency department is up to full speed.

This is the hope of emergency physician Dr Andrew Ewens. He is the clinical leader of the team overseeing the hospital's $53.5 million Lakeview building project, which includes the replacement emergency department and an assessment and diagnostic unit. The department is due to open in 12 days.

"One of the briefs we gave to the architect was not to create a space in the corridor for patients," Dr Ewens said yesterday.

Dr Ewens said North Shore's emergency department had a "no-corridoring" policy, but the policy had recently been breached because of pressure on the number of beds available because of refurbishment of one ward, which reopened on Tuesday.

Of the new department, Dr Ewens said: "I can't think where I could put a patient in the corridor. However, if we had a major flu epidemic where the whole health system was under pressure, you do what you have to do."

The Lakeview extension, overlooking Lake Pupuke, is expected to help solve the hospital's long-standing bed blocking problem, overcrowding and long waits - but possibly not fully until November when the cardiology service has moved in.

The emergency department and assessment and diagnostic unit will open from March 22.

The assessment and diagnostic unit is now part of the emergency department, but a separate unit is expected to be in operation by the end of October.

Assessment and diagnostic unit leader Dr Hamish Hart said the emergency unit was for emergency cases which needed to be assessed "and fixed up quickly".

The assessment unit was for patients who were being admitted to hospital.

The 2001 merger of the two units had "caused most of our problems", he said.

How well the two new units worked depended on how many beds the hospital had.

"There are new beds being created; we want more created."

THE EXPANSION

* Cost: $53.5 million.
* Will open progressively from March 22.

FEATURES

* New emergency department, 34 beds.
* Assessment and diagnostic unit, 50 beds.
* These replace the existing, 53-bed emergency care centre.
* Expanded radiology department including new CT scanner.
* New cardiology unit. An extra, 34-bed ward may be built in the old cardiology space.