Hato Hone St John is drawing on qualified people from across the organisation to support its Emergency Ambulance Service, as exceptional demand continues for a third week.
From 17 to 23 August, 16,794 calls came into ambulance through 111, the highest weekly record compared with 10 – 16 August when 16,617 emergency calls were received. This follows a new daily record of 2,606 calls on Friday 14 August, compared with the average of 2,061 emergency calls per day last August.
Doug Gallagher, Hato Hone St John Director of Ambulance Operations says emergency ambulance help remains available, but the sustained workload is having an impact.
“Our people have been working through exceptional demand for more than two weeks. They continue to do an outstanding job, but repeated high-workload shifts, winter illness affecting our people and their dependants, and pressure across the health system are taking a toll,” says Mr Gallagher.
“We are actively managing fatigue, supporting our people and maintaining the ambulance capacity available in our communities.”
Staff who hold ambulance or clinical qualifications and usually work in education, leadership or other non-patient-facing roles are supporting frontline operations.
“This is an organisation-wide effort. People are stepping forward from across Hato Hone St John to support patients and ambulance crews,” says Mr Gallagher.
The organisation’s major incident arrangements remain in place, providing national oversight of demand, ambulance availability, workforce capacity and patient-safety risks.
Some of the greatest pressure has been experienced in Auckland, particularly during the evening and overnight, when high incident demand can coincide with delays transferring patients into hospital care.
Hospital handover delays do not cause 111 demand, but they can keep ambulance crews committed for longer and reduce the number of ambulances available in the community.
Hato Hone St John is working with Health New Zealand and hospital teams to support patient flow. Measures include emergency department liaison staff and ambulance waiting areas at some hospitals, where clinically appropriate.
Patients continue to be prioritised according to clinical need. However, during the most intense periods, some patients assessed as time-critical may wait longer than Hato Hone St John would want.
“People should call 111 immediately when someone is seriously ill or injured or there is an immediate threat to life,” says Mr Gallagher.
“Please do not delay calling in an emergency. If the patient’s condition worsens after calling 111, call again and tell us what has changed.”
Not every 111 call requires an ambulance, and not every ambulance attendance results in transport to an emergency department. Some patients may receive clinical advice or support to access another appropriate healthcare service.
For non-emergency concerns, people should seek advice early through a GP or online GP service, a pharmacist, an urgent-care provider or Healthline on 0800 611 116.
“We also ask everyone to treat our call handlers, dispatchers, clinicians and ambulance crews with patience and respect. They are working incredibly hard to help patients and communities.”
The major incident arrangements will be reviewed regularly against demand, ambulance availability, workforce capacity and wider health-system conditions.
How many 111 calls for an ambulance were received each day last week (17 – 23 August)?
Wednesday 19 August: 2,374
Thursday 20 August: 2,419
Saturday 22 August: 2,383
How is Hato Hone St John managing delays handing over the care of patients at hospital?
Winter brings increased demand across the health system, and Hato Hone St John is seeing that reflected in the number of 111 calls and complexity of patients requiring emergency ambulance care.
Our emergency ambulance crews have been experiencing delays with handing over patients at hospital emergency departments at various times particularly in the largest cities including Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Christchurch.
On average, Hato Hone St John expects an ambulance to clear a hospital within 30 minutes of arrival, allowing it to become available to respond to another emergency. Any time beyond 30 minutes is considered ambulance ramping.
Patient safety is paramount, and we are working closely with Health New Zealand and hospital teams to manage periods of high demand and support timely patient handovers.
Our ambulance crews continue to assess, treat and monitor patients until their care is transferred to hospital staff.
A range of measures can be used to support patient flow. These include ambulance waiting areas at some emergency departments, where clinically appropriate patients can be transferred into a dedicated area while continuing to receive care.
Hato Hone St John also deploys emergency department liaison staff. They work with hospital teams, ambulance crews and the Integrated Operations Centre to identify emerging pressure, coordinate patient flow and support timely decisions.
These measures help ambulance crews return to their communities as soon as it is clinically safe to do so.
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Along with the emergency ambulance service, Hato Hone St John operates a significant number of community health programmes and other activities which help build community resilience. They include Waka Ora Health Shuttles, ASB Caring Caller, St John Youth, and St John in Schools.
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Hato Hone St John also delivers event health services, medical alarm services, first aid training, and operates retail stores across the country.
For further information please contact:
Hato Hone St John media team