Patients are being forced to wait in the back of an ambulance after arriving at some hospital emergency departments. The Herald understands some patients had to wait up to two hours, while St John has confirmed the "average" wait time was between 30 and 45 minutes on Monday night. "St John ambulance was in extremely high demand all day in Auckland and Christchurch on Monday, with demand surging for staff on the night shift, 6pm–6am," St John general manager ambulance operations Stu Cockburn said. During the Covid-19 last year, St John trained 20 ECPs to work in Auckland, Christchurch, Horowhenua and South Taranaki. St John had seen a 3 per cent increase in patients year-on-year and "busier than ever" and that wasn't expected to ease off any time soon.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 15, 2021 20:37 UTC