Peter Knight, from Auckland, took his wife to Auckland City Hospital on Monday because she had severe abdominal pains.

Staff were coping admirably, he said, but the department was clearly understaffed and overworked. One nurse said the ED was at 195 per cent capacity. St John workers were looking after patients in the corridors, he said.

“It was like a war zone and it was Monday afternoon in the off-season,” he said.

Te Whatu Ora interim lead for Te Toka Tumai Auckland, Dr Mike Shepherd, said that the ED had been particularly busy on Sunday and this had a flow-on effect on Monday in terms of capacity. Numbers had since settled, he said.

Peter Knight joined Kerre Woodham Mornings.

LISTEN ABOVE