Holidays busiest ever at hospitals

Whangarei hospital experienced a busy holiday season.

The summer holidays were the busiest ever for Northland hospitals, though it was regular medical conditions and allergies that created the havoc.

In a surprising twist on the usual partying season, the number of people who drank alcohol in the 12 hours prior to going to hospital decreased on the previous year.

Northland District Health Board (NDHB) chief medical officer Michael Roberts said there had been a 10 per cent increase in cases seen at the three hospitals - Whangarei, Bay of Islands and Kaitaia - during the summer holiday period compared to the previous one.

"This has been the busiest holiday period ever and Whangarei Emergency Department also had the busiest day ever, with 150 presentations on January 2," Dr Roberts said.

There were 2148 ED presentations over the holiday period, defined as Monday, December 22 until Sunday, January 4, 2015. Of those, 1656 were in Whangarei, 303 in Kaitaia and 189 in Bay of Islands. The three most common reasons over the holiday period were abdominal pain, chest pain and asthma.

The number of people who had drunk alcohol in the 12 hours prior to being at hospital was 70, down from 87 in the year prior. That data excluded Bay of Islands Hospital, as it was not available. Twenty per cent of the presentations, or 424 people, were patients who lived in a different part of New Zealand, while 3 per cent, or 59 people, lived overseas.

Depending on which country they are from, some are eligible for funding from New Zealand while others have to pay for the service themselves.

Northland's humidity likely played a part in the admissions as often it caused asthma to flare up, Dr Roberts said.

"They may not have been troubled by asthma at home and forgot to bring their medication with them, hence they have become unwell and sought medical attention."

Manaia Primary Health Organisation respiratory nurse specialist and educator Sue Armstrong said it had been a "pretty bad" season for asthma sufferers in Northland.

"The dampness in the air is quite a trigger for a lot of people," Mrs Armstrong said. "From people I've seen, I'm talking particularly about children, I think the presentations have been a lot more severe."

However, the fact children under the age of 13 could visit their GP free of charge had helped. Mrs Armstrong said people needed to remember to continually take their preventative asthma medication, have an emergency plan in place, use correct spacer technique and go for regular check-ups.