In Hamilton at one stage on Tuesday there were twelve ambulances waiting to off load patients. They were parked there for up to four hours. Five had seriously ill patients on board.
The situation seems to be the same everywhere. According to St John, ambulances spent 204 hours ramped up around the country yesterday. The daily average is 130.
In Hamilton there were 85 patients who arrived by ambulance at Waikato Hospital.
No matter which way you look, the statistics point to overloaded emergency departments around the country.
But is the question being asked – why?
Why are there so many sick people in the country?
It’s a subject nobody wants to answer or discuss. The usual twee answers are always trotted out. It’s winter and the population is aging.
Really?
It’s like the question that wasn’t asked when the number of deaths in 2022 was finally reported. How come it was 10 percent higher than the 5 year pre-covid average?
Has it ever occurred to bureaucrats and clinicians that we could reduce the stress on our health system if we didn’t get sick so often?
I’m often reminded of what Hawkes Bay doctor Alison Goodwin said to me in an interview some years ago. “At medical school they teach you about anatomy and disease and drugs but they don’t teach you about health.”
I think that is just so profound. This government, through the Ministry of Health, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the covid response. Many millions more has gone on advertising for the flu vaccine.
But is there ever any promotion of how to stay healthy? How to eat and drink properly. How exercise is good for you. How cutting back on the booze and staying off the fags prevents all sorts of nasties. How vitamin supplementation can be worthwhile?
It’s not a secret. Do we make enough of an effort to stay healthy? Are we encouraged to stay healthy through lifestyle and diet?
No we’re not.
Should we be?
Of course we should.
Wouldn’t it be a worthwhile exercise for a Ministry of Health to live up to its name and promote health, instead of promoting drugs.
In other words, put the ambulance at the top of the ramp.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
No matter which way you look, the statistics point to overloaded emergency departments around the country.
But is the question being asked – why?
Why are there so many sick people in the country?
It’s a subject nobody wants to answer or discuss. The usual twee answers are always trotted out. It’s winter and the population is aging.
Really?
It’s like the question that wasn’t asked when the number of deaths in 2022 was finally reported. How come it was 10 percent higher than the 5 year pre-covid average?
Has it ever occurred to bureaucrats and clinicians that we could reduce the stress on our health system if we didn’t get sick so often?
I’m often reminded of what Hawkes Bay doctor Alison Goodwin said to me in an interview some years ago. “At medical school they teach you about anatomy and disease and drugs but they don’t teach you about health.”
I think that is just so profound. This government, through the Ministry of Health, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the covid response. Many millions more has gone on advertising for the flu vaccine.
But is there ever any promotion of how to stay healthy? How to eat and drink properly. How exercise is good for you. How cutting back on the booze and staying off the fags prevents all sorts of nasties. How vitamin supplementation can be worthwhile?
It’s not a secret. Do we make enough of an effort to stay healthy? Are we encouraged to stay healthy through lifestyle and diet?
No we’re not.
Should we be?
Of course we should.
Wouldn’t it be a worthwhile exercise for a Ministry of Health to live up to its name and promote health, instead of promoting drugs.
In other words, put the ambulance at the top of the ramp.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
I am also of the opinion that a much more aggressive Triage of arrivals would be better in sieving out the unsick, those who could go to the chemist for some strepsils to those that actually are in the ambulances (if that is what they are still called in our apartheid health system) stroking out every five minutes.
For "The Eyes of - " Peter Williams.
Ambulance call outs are based on who & when (the patient) calls the Ambulance, any time night or day, the "priority" of the response, is based on what is said over the telephone.
During daylight hours, Medical Practitioner's, will call an Ambulance, if they believe the Patient before them requires a more in depth examination, that can only be carried out in a Hospital ED. These are commonly referred to "as referrals" as the Doctor will have spoken to - The Medical Director (and/or another, within ED) -for confirmation that "said patient" can be sent to the ED.
There have been instances of Patient's arriving at their Doctor's surgery, only to "suddenly find themselves" in Ambulance. In these instances, they underestimated the seriousness of their "complaint".
NZ also has a large group of people who have Mental Health issues, who have instances of their "issues" becoming a concern to them, they inevitably call an ambulance, even late at night.
What was not "covered by Newshub in their article" regarding Waikato Hospital, is what was the waiting room like, in numbers of "walk ins"?
In a 24 hour period, any day of the week, the "foot traffic" into the waiting room of a Hospital ED is "beyond belief", more so after 6.00 p.m. each evening. And this includes (even during the day) people, who really should have called an ambulance (we still have in NZ an older age group, who still think that only a Doctor can call an ambulance) - but do not do so, because of the "implied cost of such an action" is something they can not afford. The last part of the above statement, can also be applied to NZ's "low economic strata of society".
Is does not matter how many times a Govt , "tinkers" with the costs for visiting a Doctor, there are many Kiwi's who "do not have and/or are not registered" with a Medical Practitioner. And after hours, out of Hospital Services, seem to be "thin on the ground".
I know of one NZ City "who tried and after hours Emergency Doctors facility", which of recent times has lapsed into obscurity - thus, the end result, is that people will now go to the Hospital ED.
ANON, of New Zealand.
RIGHT we have drug for that and we have a drug for that and it keeps on going Pathetic Big Pharm and all its shareholders are doing Just fine .
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