October 18, 2022
Death reveals Middlemore ED crisis
Opposition health spokesperson Shane Reti wants answers on what’s being done about the death of a woman left unattended in Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department.
An independent inquiry by a member of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine said the hospital was unsafe for both patients and staff.
Dr Reti says it shows the dysfunction created by workforce shortages.
“Imagine on that night, June 15, there were 46 people in a waiting room that seated 30 and there were 94 people awaiting bed placement in a hospital that was 98 percent full. That’s a whole ward waiting to go on a ward. That was incredible, As the reviewer said, that was a desperate time,” he says
Dr Reti says he’ll be asking questions of Health Minister Andrew Little.