Emergency Departments treat people who have a serious illness or injury that requires urgent attention. There are close to 1 million Emergency Department attendances in New Zealand every year.

Patients are referred to an Emergency Department in three ways:

• Doctor or GP referral
• Ambulance service referral
• Self referral

On arrival to the Emergency Department, the patient will be seen by a triage nurse or doctor who will assess the problem, decide how urgent it is and how soon treatment is required. Patients are seen in order of the seriousness of their condition and not in order of arrival. This process allows for the sickest and most urgent patients to be seen first.

Emergency departments are for emergencies. Patients with more minor injury or illness may have to wait for longer to be treated. For non-urgent problems, some people may find it more convenient to see their own local GP or after hours duty doctor. If you are uncertain how serious a problem is, you can call your doctor or Healthline on 0800 611 116 for advice.

Once assessed and treated by Emergency Department staff, patients may be admitted, transferred to another hospital or discharged. If discharged home, before leaving patients should check the following:

• Know what is wrong with them
• That they will be able to manage at home
• Have their prescription, if needed, and know where to go to pick up their medicine
• Know how to care for their illness / injury at home
• Have transport home
• Know what follow up care they will need, for example an outpatient appointment to their doctor
• That their pain is under control
• That they have a copy of their discharge summary form and if appropriate their ACC form

If a patient’s condition worsens or does not progress satisfactorily once they go home, they should contact their GP or return to the Emergency Department.  
 
Click on the video clip below to go inside our Emergency Department

WDHB ED from Bruce Gatward-Cook on Vimeo.