Photo: LDR / Stephen ForbesPatients at Middlemore Hospital were still complaining of 'crazy' wait times in the emergency department on Tuesday - just days after the release of a damning report branded it overcrowded and unsafe. Toala said the lack of staff was obvious to anyone visiting the emergency department and that was driving the ongoing delays in people being seen. Nikita Hohepa said her 1-year-old son had just been discharged from Middlemore Hospital's emergency department on Tuesday afternoon. In a scathing, five page report, Middlemore Hospital's emergency department was described as dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe. "The health minister was warned by the health sector a year ago that there was going to be a health workforce crisis and ballooning emergency department wait times - yet he did nothing."

Source: Stuff October 18, 2022 06:52 UTC