Media release
From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)Key Points
- There is variation among New Zealand hospitals with respect to structure, staff and workload, which may limit the ability of some hospitals to cope with surges in demand for acute care.
- Although no single element of governance, staffing or structure was strongly related to performance, when there was a relative lack of doctors, ED or hospital beds in the face of high ambulance presentations or hospital admissions, performance appeared to suffer."
Summary
We surveyed New Zealand emergency departments to find out what the staffing, workload and capacity to cope with acute demand was. We found much variation across the country. When hospitals had relatively fewer staff and less space in the face of high workloads, performance appeared to be worse.
