Hospital emergency departments to get 200 more security guards for summer

Hospitals in our biggest cities and holiday hotspots will get an extra 200 security staff for the coming summer months to counter the increasing “unacceptable” violence in emergency departments.

This morning, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced a $5.7 million boost to employ additional security staff in 32 hospitals across New Zealand through to late February.

Eight of New Zealand’s highest-risk emergency departments – in the four Auckland hospitals, along with Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin – would each receive an additional five security staff until the end of February.

A further 24 emergency departments near summer hotspots would each receive between two and five additional security staff to help manage pressures over the summer holiday peak period. These staff would be available through to mid-January or late February, depending on local needs and provide round-the-clock cover.

Reti said the beefed-up security was to keep patients and hard-working doctors, nurses and other emergency department staff safe during a particularly busy time.

“The safety of the health workforce and patients has to be a priority. These staff will be ready to provide around-the-clock cover and the first people are on the ground already,” said Reti.

“I’m also committed to working urgently on a longer-term plan to improve security across our hospitals.

“In 2021, HNZ reported 1179 assaults, rising to 3459 in 2022. In the first three months of 2023, 1267 assaults were reported. If this trend continues, it will have exceeded 5000 reported incidents in 2023. That’s totally unacceptable.

He said there was no place for people being abusive or aggressive towards staff, who were doing their absolute best for their fellow New Zealanders in often stressful situations.

Speaking to the media from Auckland City Hospital today, he said three to five patients per week required restraints.

“A lot of this is because, in their moment of illness, they’re not thinking as they normally would,” Reti said.

“And that can include thrashing out verbally, it can include lashing out physically.”

Emergency departments were a vital part of our health system, and all New Zealanders – and the people caring for them – needed to feel confident they would be safe when they walked through the door.

“These 200 staff are early steps in making a tangible difference to safety, as this government moves increased support out of the back office and into the frontline of health,” said Reti.

Reti said this was only a short-term fix and was working towards creating a long-term strategy in the new year. This included reducing wait times, a major factor in the increased abuse towards staff.

Ahead of the election, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) called for security guards to be posted around the clock in every ED, to address what they called a “national crisis” around staff safety that was causing an exodus of medical workers and putting patients at risk of serious harm.

The emergency department security measures were one of a long list of health policies within National’s 100-day plan that survived coalition negotiations with Act and NZ First.

Reti earlier promised to address the issue before Christmas.

Data from Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand showed there were 7125 assaults against public health employees recorded between April 2021 and April 2023. While those figures covered not just EDs but all hospital services, EDs are among the departments with the highest rates of violence and aggression.

Other policies in the 100-day plan, which will end in March next year, include setting five major targets for the health system, including the surgical waitlist, faster cancer treatment and ED wait times.

Yesterday, the Government revealed a $50m boost to help Whānau Ora and partners raise vaccination rates.