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Download AudioThe country’s busiest emergency department has turned to social media to try to dampen demand as winter kicks in.
Clinical director Vanessa Thornton says about 400 people a day crowd into the Middlemore ED, which serves a significant proportion of Maori and Pasifika in south Auckland.
She says it has produced six informational videos telling people of other alteratives they should consider before heading for the hospital.
We’re just trying to make sure that the emergency department’s are less – um – are available for the people who are the sickest and seriously unwell with life or limb-threatening conditions – and also just to value people’s time so that they’re not waiting for ages, when they could’ve got really great care in other settings.
Dr Thornton says the videos feature Polynesian voices and faces feature prominently.
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