Emergency departments face crisis in UK and New Zealand

Emergency departments in the United Kingdom and New Zealand are facing significant operational crises characterized by overcrowding and unsafe staffing levels.

In the UK, a survey by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine indicates that 51% of respondents consider their departments to be fairly or very unsafe. Overcrowding is reported as a daily occurrence by 88% of surveyed members. In Scotland, data suggests a link between long wait times and mortality, with reports indicating 871 deaths in 2025 associated with waits of 12 hours or more for hospital admission.

In New Zealand, staff at North Shore Hospital have declared a state of emergency. Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) report that the emergency department frequently operates at 200% to 300% capacity. Staff attribute the crisis to a hiring freeze implemented by Te Whatu Ora in 2024, noting that while calculations suggest a need for 25 additional nursing full-time equivalents (FTE) to ensure safety, no funding has been provided to meet this demand.