Six ambulances were turned away from Auckland Hospital on Monday night because its emergency department was too full.
The hospital was under so much pressure patients had to be treated in a public space normally used as back up in case of mass injuries such as from a plane crash or earthquake.
Te Whatu Ora Auckland interim director Mike Shepherd said it was rare to have to divert ambulances.
Those that could not go to Auckland were sent to North Shore and Middlemore hospitals instead.
Patients who needed care that could only be offered at Auckland Hospital were still accepted, he said.
An emergency specialist at the hospital and member of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Amanda Rosenberg, said there was no physical space left in the ED on Monday, even every bit of corridor space was being used.
The overflow area that was opened was in the atrium of the main building and was normally a public recreational space but was instead used for ambulance patients still on the stretchers they came in on.
There was no privacy, she said.
"They're already quite frightened that they've had to call an ambulance to come to hospital I would imagine. And then being shunted into a space that's not really designed to care for patients on a regular basis must be even more frightening," she said.
Many waited several hours to get into the department and the ambulance officers had to stay with them, meaning they could not attend other emergencies, she said.
The situation in the hospital ED on Monday had been building for a while.
The hospital was so full, patients who needed a ward bed could not be admitted straight away and took up space in the emergency department.
Some were waiting there two and a half days, she said.
One day last week there were only four beds in the department that could be used for emergency patients, she said.
College of Emergency Medicine New Zealand chair Kate Allan said the situation was not unique to Auckland — there were extremely full hospitals all over the country.
With this level of pressure already, she and her colleagues worried about what the winter peak would bring.
Shepherd said the ED was now returning to normal levels.
He wanted to assure anyone who needed care that they would get it.
Operations have been postponed at Dunedin Hospital because of staff shortages and a busy Emergency Department, it emerged yesterday.
The hospital warned about how busy it was, and apologised to patients who had to wait for care.
There were large numbers of people coming to the Emergency Department as well as staff illness and vacancies, it said.
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Immigration: Kiwi brain drain has peaked despite another year of record departures
Migrant departures reached a record 122,800 in the year to January 2025, up 18%.
Migrant arrivals were 155,300, down 31%, with a net migration gain of 32,500.
Economists warn low net migration could impact the housing market and economic recovery.
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The number of people leaving the country long-term hit another new record in the year to January – but monthly data suggests the brain drain has peaked.
Stats NZ provisional data for the January 2025 year (compared with January 2024) showed migrant departures up 18% to 122,800, the highest on record for an annual period.
Migrant arrivals, at 155,300 were down, 31% for the year.
There was an annual net migration gain of 32,500 (± 1500), compared with a net gain of 121,800.
Down from around 33,317 in the year to December, that was the lowest rate of net migration since 2014 (outside of the Covid-19 era).
In the past few weeks, economists have warned that low levels of net migration are providing a headwind for the residential housing market and may slow the overall economic recovery.
“Over the past few months, we’ve seen net migration stabilise at annualised rates around 25-35k. It leaves us with a view of positive but below average expansion in the population over the next 18 months or so,” BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said in a note last month.
“That adds to the list of factors likely to check the pace of recovery this year.”
Commenting on the latest numbers, ASB senior economist Mark Smith noted that weaker net immigration had “eroded a key leg of support for the New Zealand housing market, domestic demand, and labour market capacity”.
“Easing economic support from net immigration will weigh on economic growth and translate into greater spare capacity,” he said.
Annual migrant arrivals peaked at 234,800 in the year ended October 2023. Annual net migration peaked in the year ended October 2023 with a gain of 135,500.
For New Zealand citizens, the net migration loss of 44,200 in the January 2025 year shows a stabilisation of the ‘brain-drain’ trend.
It was a slight improvement from a net migration loss of 44,700 Kiwis in the January 2024 year, and a loss of 44,375 for the year to December 2024.
The monthly data shows the rate of Kiwi departures peaked in the year to August 2024 when a net 47,147 departed long-term.
That was still high compared to an average annual net migration loss of 27,100 in the January years 2002 to 2013 and an average annual net migration loss of 7500 in the January years 2014 to 2019, Stats NZ said.
For migrant arrivals in the January 2025 year, citizens of India were the largest group, with 25,800 arrivals. The next largest groups were citizens of New Zealand, 25,000; China, 17,600; and the Philippines, 14,000.
For migrant departures in the January 2025 year, citizens of New Zealand were still the largest group, with 69,200 departures.
The next largest groups were citizens of China, 7900; India, 5800, and the United Kingdom, 4500.
Citizens of India, the Philippines, and China drove net migration gains in the January 2025 year, Stats NZ said.
Country of citizenship is the nationality of the passport used to arrive in or depart from New Zealand and is not necessarily the country of previous or next residence.
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