Hawke's Bay Hospital has been forced to postpone some non-life-threatening surgeries planned for today, due to a combination of unprecedented demand and record numbers of patients flooding the Emergency Department.

Hospital acting chief executive Sharon Mason said the demand on hospital services had been "unrelenting" since Christmas, with the Emergency Department recording its greatest number of presentations of 170 on New Year's Day. The previous record was 169 set in July, 2017.

There had been unprecedented demand on hospital services, especially its acute surgeries (for life-threatening conditions)- which had been running 24/7 since Christmas Eve.

Mrs Mason said the hospital was now operating at capacity and would have to postpone some elective surgeries over the coming days.

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"We apologise to everyone affected by this, but we need to maintain a safe hospital which we can only do by releasing some of the pressure. One way is to postpone elective surgeries. We are also asking the public to help and leave ED for emergencies only."

A hospital spokeswoman said a total of four elective surgeries scheduled for today had been postponed, with the situation to be reviewed daily.

Staff expected the hospital to remain operating at capacity over the next week because of the high numbers of people that have needed emergency surgery and follow-up care.

Yesterday's announcement comes just a week after front-line doctors warned that they were being overrun with patients presenting with non-emergency matters in the Emergency Department.

On Boxing Day 161 people went through the service in a 24-hour period and that was close to the all-time record of 169 (set in July). Only 53 out of the 161 people presenting on the day needed to be admitted to hospital.

ED staff had also seen nearly 600 people over the previous four days.

However, Mrs Mason added that a number of people were still turning up to the Emergency Department with minor injuries and illnesses. That made it difficult for emergency staff as they had to sift through the high volumes of people to find the sickest patients.

Napier and Hastings residents were also reminded that they could also use the Wellesley Road Health Centre where a nurse would be able to assess patient needs.

Just last month Hawke's Bay District Health Board approved a $12 million investment to refurbish the hospital operating theatre, which would provide increased surgical capacity from 2019.

The project is designed to increase surgical capacity to meet demand in the short term, and includes building an additional theatre and the refurbishment of many other theatre services.
Initial building work should begin late next year, and expected to be completed by 2020.

A full list of GPs and after hours services for medical care could be found at www.ourhealthhb.nz.