Shorter stays in emergency departments are among the Government's key health targets. Photo / Jason Dorday
Leaked health data reveal that many of the country’s major hospitals are failing the Government’s emergency department wait-time targets.
National daily emergency department (ED) data across several days in August, leaked to the Labour Party, show New Zealand’s 23 hospitals are managing to process, on average, between 69-71% of patients within six hours, well short of the Government’s 95% target it wants to reach by 2030.
It also sits below the Government’s 74% milestone target for 2024/25 and the 77% target for 2025/26.
However, the data paint a more dire picture in some of the country’s largest hospitals, including Auckland and Wellington, where fewer than 40% of patients are seen within six hours on some days.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora and the Acting Health Minister stress the leaked data shouldn’t be considered “fact”, despite the data being regularly presented to the Health Minister and Health NZ leadership.
They argue validated data from quarter three of 2024/25 (January-March) showing 74.2% of patients admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours of entering an ED prove there is improvement, while acknowledging this winter has seen an “unprecedented” volume of patients presenting.
Labour’s health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall says the data reveal the cost of underinvestment in the health system and condemns the Government’s health targets as a failed “magic wand”.
The leaked information from Health NZ’s internal reporting system details how hospitals are performing daily against the ED wait time target across seven days in August.
Nationally, the daily average ranges between 63.7% and 75.8%. However, the quarterly average sits between 69.1% and 70.4%.
Broken down by hospital, the 56-bed Grey Base Hospital in Greymouth is the best performer, seeing more than 90% of patients within six hours in each of the seven days and at times exceeding the 95% target.
The Whangārei and Timaru hospitals also regularly met or exceeded the 77% milestone for 2025/26, according to the daily data.
The results are poorer in hospitals in bigger centres, such as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
At its best, Auckland City Hospital processed 66.3% of patients within six hours but, at its worst, processed just 34.4%.
Middlemore’s best result was 69.3% while its worst was 44.6%. Waitākere ranged between 61.1%-69.6% while North Shore managed between 51.1% and 72.7%.
Wellington Hospital had only one day of the seven where more than half of all patients were seen within six hours, reaching as low as 39% on its worst day.
The Dunedin Hospital ED wait-time results were the poorest in the country in three of the seven days, with a range of 35.9%-48.4%. Christchurch Hospital had better results but still fell below the 2024/25 milestone target with a range of 57%-73.8%.
Overall, the smallest daily proportion of patients seen within the deadline belonged to Waikato Hospital, which achieved 33% on August 14.
Verrall, a doctor and former Health Minister, said she was concerned by how long people were waiting in EDs.
“Large city hospitals see our most complex patients and the highest number of patients; it’s very risky for so many people to wait this long in the emergency department.”
She expected many hospitals to struggle to meet the 2025/26 milestone, indicating ED wait times would be a key issue in next year’s election.
“This Government promised that they would make ED wait times better. It looks like they’ll be going to the election having made no difference.”
In statements from Health NZ and Acting Health Minister Matt Doocey, both described the leaked data as unreliable and pointed to the latest validated data for the January-March quarter, which was 74.2%.
However, Doocey acknowledged New Zealanders were “still waiting far too long” in EDs.
“The Government has made it clear to Health New Zealand that performance must improve and reinstating the shorter stays in ED target is key to that.”
He maintained hospitals across the country were improving, noting a “predictable rise” in ED presentations during winter months.
Health NZ executive regional director Chris Lowry indicated this winter had been busier than expected.
“While we plan for and anticipate these surges, this winter’s volume of presentations has been unprecedented.
“Staff sickness and higher-acuity patients, many of whom require isolation, have further intensified pressures on our system.”
Lowry said Health NZ remained committed to achieving the wait time target, highlighting the agency’s focus on improving in-community care to prevent unnecessary ED visits.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.