• Car crash victims and stroke patients are being seen in corridors at Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department due to overcrowding and a lack of staff.
• Dr Sylvia Boys predicts this winter will be busier than last despite the Government’s “record” health investment.
• Clinicians’ requests for $3.6 million to increase staff at Middlemore ED were declined.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says patients suffering from road crashes and strokes are being treated in corridors at Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department because of a lack of capacity and staff.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) vice-president Dr Sylvia Boys, who’s an emergency physician at Middlemore Hospital’s ED, described last winter as “brutal” for staff and patients and didn’t think this winter would be any different.

That’s despite Health Minister Simeon Brown trumpeting “record” investment for health in last week’s Budget.

Boys told the Herald NOW show the number of staff on duty at Middlemore does not match patient demand.

“Predictably we will have more presentations this winter than last winter, but we’ve had no new resource put in,” she said.

She said this means patients might not receive the care they deserve.

“You can’t underestimate the soul-sucking nature of apologising to every patient you see for waiting eight to 10 hours, moving from one urgent case to another and squeezing past people who are on trolleys and suffering.”

The Herald revealed on Monday serious concerns about patient safety and a lack of staff at Middlemore Hospital’s ED last winter, which included more than 1500 patients being treated in corridors in the space of just 36 days.

The information was detailed in a quality alert report written by clinicians and obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act.

The report also said there were 43 patient harm incidents in the same time period – some of which could have involved death or severe loss of function because of delayed care or medical error.

Boys said those ending up in corridors included patients suffering strokes and injuries from road traffic crashes.

“We have no space, and no capacity left in the ED. The wards are full; patients can’t move up to the wards [from the ED]. We have more presentations that we can get to and there are inadequate staff to treat people in a timely manner.”

Clinicians who raised the alarm about patient harm, lack of staff and ED overcrowding last winter sought $3.6 million in funding to increase staff numbers.

Efforts to secure funding for a new “fast-track model of care” were declined and Boys said nothing had changed ahead of this winter.

It’s not just Middlemore’s ED that’s under pressure. HNZ data provided to the Herald reveals several other EDs are seeing huge numbers of patients.

The New Zealand chairwoman of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and ED physician, Dr Kate Allan, told the Herald it’s a worrying trend.

“It is a significant concern, but it’s not unique to Middlemore. This sort of thing is happening across the country at a lot of our emergency departments and our hospitals,” she said.

Minister: ‘Significant’ pressure on system

Clinicians wanted the quality alert report escalated up the chain to national clinical leaders at Health New Zealand (HNZ), so they were across the risks. However, HNZ admitted national bosses “delayed” acknowledging the report when it came to them.

It was also recommended Minister Brown be made aware of the issues.

Brown told Herald NOW the first he knew of the report was when the Herald broke the story.

He described it as “internal clinical assessment” but acknowledged “significant” pressure across New Zealand’s health system.

Brown said it was up to HNZ to make decisions on district health budgets.

Asked whether he was aware Middlemore ED clinicians had requested funding to improve staffing and patient safety before this Budget, he said that was HNZ’s role.

“This is where HNZ is responsible. I as the minister am responsible for the overall budget.”

He would not say when or if the requested $3.6m would be made available.

However, a HNZ spokeswoman said there were plans for additional staff at Middlemore in “the current budgeting year”.

She said in the last financial year 20 fulltime registered nurses, five senior nurses three senior registrars, one urgent care doctor and five security guards were recruited in the last financial year.

It was not clear how many of those staff ended up being diverted to the overloaded ED.

“Health New Zealand is committed to growing and retaining its workforce,” the spokeswoman told the Herald.

Brown reiterated the Government’s commitment to fund 24-hour urgent care services in Counties Manukau, which he said would alleviate pressure on Middlemore’s ED.

He also said South Auckland needed another hospital and it’s likely one would be built in Drury.

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald‘s video team in July 2024.