Surgery on hold as flu takes over

By MARTIN JOHNSTON and NZPA

Hospitals struggling with record numbers of patients amid an influenza outbreak are having to postpone many non-urgent operations.

The latest figures show that the number of people suffering from flu rose rapidly in parts of Auckland in the last week of August.

In South Auckland, the estimated flu rate was 225 cases for every 100,000 patients registered with GPs.

For the whole Auckland region it was 100 cases per 100,000. During the worst week last year for the region, in July, the rate hit 235 per 100,000 patients.

Auckland's hospitals have been extremely busy for the past 10 days as the flu outbreak has produced an influx of patients, compounded by sickness among staff.

Patients have faced long delays at emergency departments and hospitals have postponed a number of non-urgent operations - five at Auckland City Hospital yesterday.

Waikato Hospital has postponed 50 cases of elective surgery in the past two weeks.

Once patients have been seen in the emergency departments, some of those needing to be admitted to a ward have faced long waits on trolleys in corridors. Hospitals yesterday appealed for people with minor ailments to go to a GP rather than a hospital emergency department.

North Shore Hospital said that from Tuesday to Wednesday last week, its emergency care centre experienced its busiest ever 24-hour period, seeing 195 patients. The previous record was 120.

Yesterday the centre, which has space for 61 patients, had 95.

"People are in corridors, in waiting rooms, in procedure rooms. They are anywhere we can put them," said a spokeswoman. "The majority are quite ill people - a lot of elderly people, a lot with chest conditions."

Waikato Hospital's emergency department clocked up its busiest month on record last month, seeing 4500 patients. The previous highest month was last June, with 4400.

Officials say the hospital is at capacity, with staff having to work overtime to cope with caseloads.

Dorris Nikora, 80, waited five hours on a bed in a hallway of the emergency department on Friday afternoon before being sent home and told to see her GP.

She had fallen at a supermarket, suffering concussion, a broken nose, broken collar bone, black eyes and cuts to her face.

Her daughter, Dianne Vellere, said her mother should have been admitted to a ward.

Hospital manager Jan Adams said the cause of the surge of patients was not fully known.

The hospital planned for more patients in the colder months, but an upsurge in cardiology patients in August was unexpected.

THE NUMBERS

195: People seen by North Shore Hospital's emergency care centre in 24 hours last week.

120: Previous record.

50: Elective surgery cases postponed in the past two weeks by Waikato Hospital.

4500: Patients seen by Waikato Hospital's emergency department last month.

4400: Previous record.