A new service designed to ease pressure on Whakatāne Hospital’s busy Emergency Department (ED) has recently come into operation.

Emergency Q is a 24/7 virtual care option that allows some patients presenting at ED to choose an online appointment with an emergency medicine specialist instead of waiting to be seen in person.

Since being introduced a few weeks ago, about 10 patients a day have opted to use the Emergency Q service.

The initiative follows concerns raised earlier this year by emergency doctors about rising patient numbers and shortages of senior staff. Those staffing issues have since been addressed with the recruitment of additional doctors.

Interim hospital manager Jenny Martelli said the ED continued to see high numbers of GP-level patients at all hours of the day and night.

These patients often experience long waiting times because more urgent presentations are seen first, she said.

“This can mean that some patients wait six hours or more to be seen by a doctor.”

Emergency Q is intended to help alleviate that pressure.

“Emergency Q frees up busy hospital emergency departments to focus on patients with true medical emergencies,” Ms Martelli said.

It also reduced aggression levels towards frontline nurses by offering patients a choice and reducing waiting times.  

She explained that when a patient presents to ED, they are first assessed by a triage nurse. If their condition meets the criteria for a virtual, face-to-face consultation with an emergency specialist, the nurse will offer the patient the Emergency Q option, which will be quicker than waiting to see a doctor in the ED.

If the patient consents, they are sent a link to their phone that provides a free voucher and access to the Emergency Consult website, Ms Martelli said.

“The doctors who work for Emergency Consult are all New Zealand-registered emergency specialists and the service is available 24/7.”

Patients can either return home to attend the online appointment or connect from their car or another location with Wi-Fi. Free Wi-Fi is available from the hospital car park in front of the ED entrance.

To use the service, patients must have access to a mobile phone capable of receiving the link. Those requiring X-rays, other imaging, hands-on assessments, or procedures are not eligible for the virtual service and will continue to be treated within ED.

Ms Martelli said the hospital hoped uptake of Emergency Q would continue to grow.

“The Emergency Q system does have the capacity to refer to more than just the Emergency Consult service and if and when other urgent care medical facilities become available in the Eastern Bay, they can be added to the system for patient referral, as currently happens in Tauranga.”