Auckland's Middlemore Hospital has been called "unsafe" for patients in a damning new report.
An independent inquiry was launched into the death of a patient in June after she'd been to the emergency department and told it would take hours for her to be seen.
Overcrowding, sustained pressure, and dysfunction - Middlemore Hospital's emergency department is under the microscope again.
A new report by an unidentified person from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine found "it is clear that this institution is struggling".
That's little surprise to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO).
"New Zealand's nursing shortage has been rife, and it is getting worse by the day," said NZNO president Anne Daniels.
The review was launched after a woman left the emergency department due to long wait times, only to return three hours later following a life-threatening emergency. She died of a brain haemorrhage.
But an initial assessment of the patient "may have recognised 'red flags'", the report said.
"Te Whatu Ora has called for a review, which I understand they're thinking about doing next year. How many patients are going to be in the same situation before that review happens," Daniels said.
Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand chief executive Margie Apa told Newshub she "fully acknowledges the grief of this whanau at the loss of their loved one".
"Middlemore is one of many emergency departments which have raised concerns about the impact of constrained resources at peak times," she said.
Health New Zealand is "nationally reviewing the learnings from winter to inform areas of priority ahead of next winter".
But that isn't good enough for Daniels.
"We cannot wait any longer, our patients can't wait," she said.
The report hammered home that the victim wasn't at fault, she was"failed" by an "overloaded" system.
