$6M Funding Boost to Palmerston North ED to Reduce Wait Times and Improve Patient Care

The new funding aims to tackle these challenges head-on by expanding the hospital's capacity, increasing staffing, and streamlining patient flow.

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has announced a $6 million funding boost for Palmerston North Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) to address long-standing wait times and enhance patient safety and care. Alongside this, the government is introducing new national standards to improve the handling of acute patients across hospitals.

“Over the past six years, emergency department wait times have worsened, with Palmerston North Hospital facing some of the longest in the country, despite the dedicated efforts of its management and staff,” said Dr. Reti.

The new funding aims to tackle these challenges head-on by expanding the hospital's capacity, increasing staffing, and streamlining patient flow. Key initiatives supported by this funding include:

Establishing a discharge lounge: This will help improve patient flow by ensuring timely discharges, freeing up space for new acute admissions from ED.

Expanding ED capacity: The hospital will repurpose the fracture clinic to treat low-acuity ED patients after hours, which will reduce waiting times for those patients.

Additional staffing for a dedicated children’s area: Enhancing care for young patients by creating a more child-friendly environment in ED.

Early supported discharge team for older patients: This team will focus on safely discharging elderly patients earlier, with necessary support services in place.

A system flow coordinator: This role will ensure efficient patient movement throughout the hospital, reducing delays in admissions, transfers, and discharges.

Dr. Reti also highlighted that Palmerston North Hospital sees longer patient stays compared to other hospitals across New Zealand. “When patients stay longer than necessary, it limits the number of beds available for other acute cases, contributing to long wait times in ED,” he explained.

To address these systemic issues, Health New Zealand is establishing new national Acute Flow Operational Standards designed to enhance the patient journey through hospitals, from admission to discharge. These standards will ensure hospitals across the country implement best practices for managing acute patients efficiently.

The national standards include:

Enhanced use of discharge lounges to speed up inpatient discharges, making beds available earlier for new acute admissions.

ED coordinators for each shift, responsible for ensuring timely transfer of patients from ED to wards, freeing up space for incoming emergencies.

Active monitoring of patient flow throughout the hospital to minimize unnecessary delays.

“These new standards will help improve the quality of care for acute patients in hospitals across New Zealand, ensuring that ED wait times and elective surgery schedules are managed more effectively,” said Dr. Reti.

The Health Minister emphasized that these changes are crucial to meeting the government's health targets, especially in ensuring hospitals no longer have to cancel elective surgeries to accommodate acute cases. “If hospitals across the country are implementing these basic systems well, we can ensure patients are treated at the right time and with the right support,” he added.

Dr. Reti concluded, “These initiatives are vital for providing timely, high-quality healthcare, ensuring New Zealanders get the public health services they need and deserve."