can't fault the service, it's just the wait time that's a worry.. that's the same countrywide. Looks like your Nelson has other issues compounding their problems

I can't really comment because I haven't needed their serves in a while

There has always been a wait at EDs but if it is an emergency like severe chest pains or someone collapsing they are seen immediately. The hospital doctors and nurses are always under pressure and do their best to see the most urgent cases first. My grandson broke his arm in two places a week ago - he was given painkillers and waited eight hours in Auckland Starship for attention but that was what you have to expect when the waiting rooms are full.

Yes they are busy but always are helpful

Yes - Most definitely - IF IT IS A REAL EMERGENCY. Problem is a lot of people go with things that are NOT real emergencies.

I would like to think so after all I feel that they are well worth the money I trust and respect them.

PS: also forgot to say there is also STILL a massive shortage of nurses across the WORLD not just Aust, so recruiting has been very diff for all hospitals, but esp diff for all the large metro hosp with large ED/ERs. (im in Sth Aust).....southern and northern large hosps are both critically short of nursing staff...(at Nth we are currently recruiting overseas...) Local country hospitals are having trouble retaining doctors as well. (gives me a headache thinkin bout it) :(

All hospital are like this today. I wait for my someone I know for 12 hours for hospital for help. Did want take in tell someone questions the person health of sick person. What piss me off when that person had a his health issues that time before going home they say "do you want do suvery about your health after some we keep contact with you to find out" time. No suvery wait but health. I pray no-one go to hospital.

Yes bc they always do the best they can.....staffing and wait times are all about lack of funding from the govt, (its the same in every state in aust) in ever country in the world! our world is sick....we've lost the ability to look after ourselves, for it seems even the simplest of ailments..... when stupid fools who use their local hosp's ED/ER as their local dr service for a cold, stop going there, we will have less wait times... When we have more power to turf ppl out of our ED/ERs who are high as kites/agressive/violent etc etc....will will also hav less wait times...(does anyone know how much resource it takes to control these ppl in a hosp full of 'really' sick n old n frail ppl?) - its ALOT !! Its not just once a day its numerous times a day.... all the while they are trying to get to look after your dad, your bro, your cousin, your kid, YOU.....and get you treated n sent home well, or admitted into the hosp.... when the govt gives more money to healthcare than to the military, so many hops's are aging infrastructure, the suburbs around them, hav outgrown their hospitals...not enuf beds....hence your stuck down in ED/ER waiting on a bed, or waiting on someone to be discharged home or someone to die, to free up a bed! :( So take some time to think about the WHOLE picture, not just the media grab for a headline attention bc it sells... It is a very complicated societal issue, that has no easy fix. Use ur GP or priority care centres or chemists for non urgent care...and learn to look after yourself and your loved ones.... there will come a day when we all will have to look after ourselves.....bc we have to!

I have never heard of Nelson Hospital. It sounds like NZ. In 2023 my husband had to call an ambulance for me and I was asked which ER I wanted to go to. I had the choice of 3, two of which were free but I chose the one that required payment but it was the closest and I thought my husband would be coming to collect me after a couple of hours. I was wrong as they admitted me and I spent the night. I did have to wait for the ambulance in front of me to be treated as well as a young man who had been hurt at a football game but all the while the ambos stayed with me. It wasn't a long wait and the number of staff seemed appropriate for the patients. In the morning I heard the nurses saying they were short of beds so I volunteered to go home.

Haven't been in ER for a while.

They have a new system now where they give you a number to go through triage and then registration four our maximum wait time.

Yes long wait in casualty

No

Townsville University Hospital has exceeded our expectations since we moved here from interstate.

Yes! Ballarat Base Hospital has a very good reputation.

Not sure, but I hope so for the community.

they are one of the major hospitals so I trust they are capable

NO! We have three ER one north of us and two south of us the 2 south one is about 10 miles away and the other 25 miles way. The first one that is 10 miles away gave me covid by not separating the people who were infected from us and the second one that is 25 north of us the ER nurse informed us we were inconvenient because she just wanted her life back and were interfering because we were sick, the second time I went there they tried to send me home with the IV still in my arm and could not diagnose that I had colon difficile and needed special medication they did not even have a bed and let continue to throw up in the waiting room while they tried to get the person who took that had a walker to push my wheelchair and became annoyed when they could not leave the walker in the waiting area push me and then go back and get it. We have now made a deal on pain of Death never to visit the ER again

Kind of depends what's going on. More serious kind of things have to be seen to before I can get a few stitches or whatever the case may be. I think they try their best to do a good job and I can't really be angry about having to wait a while under that kind of circumstance.

I think its the day and time that you need to go to the emergency department that causes issues ,shift change ,patients not vacating beds due to waiting on DR clearance ,limited staff on weekends and the lack of procedure for assessment on arrival .Ambulance arrival get preference over the waiting room .

Hornsby Hospital was given a 1 mill upgrade a few years ago. When I had a reason to need their assistance The ambulance driver was at my house within a few minutes. I was quickly brought into Emergency and within 10 minutes treated and popped into a bed. A few months later, my partner also had cause to need them and again there was no problem with there speedy arrival and putting him into a ward at the hospital.

all South Australilan ER departments are stretched to the limit. Governments claim they are doing as much as they can but the results are not seen. Maybe if gp's were made to bulk bill illnesses would not progress to an emergency.

Wait time in emergency departments are lengthy in two of the closest hospitals. Treatment in one of them last year left a lot to be desired.

Sometimes it takes a long time to be seen but it is the best

Yes its very good. Although a lot of people think a splinter is a emergency

Yes, I presume so

From where i live, NO. My nearest emergency department is in perfect shape and is one of the best hospital in the country.

Yes I do. Have recently used the emergency department and they were doing their best to get through all the patients, unfortunately some people go to the emergency department for things that they can go to doctors for which puts a strain on the emergency department and the staff.

only an 8 hour wait in Hamilton

Not at all. In the town I live in their are 90,000 people. The main hospital has an emergency department that has only 2 doctors stationed at any time. I know this (not supposed too) because my girlfriend works as a nurse there. AND...the moment there is an emergency somewhere else, 1 of those doctors is called away. It is not unusual to wait anywhere from 3-5 hours before someone will attend to you.

It's all we have on the island, so I'd better have some confidence in them, although my sister died there in the ICU from pneumonia one week after she caught it while there for a checkup after a fall! ;-oEdited 10-Apr-25 17:23pm

It's been always ongoing problem our emergency department not up to scratch, it's really frustrating always about not enough doctors not enough nurses and mainly the waiting time in the ED is not acceptable. There are many awful stories you hear that just break your heart. One thing that never changes is where there are rich or famous people they always seem to get medical attention before others that are suffering and dying.why ?thats not fair

Haven't had a problem with our local hospital.

No, totally inadequate. It is under staff and resourced by the state government (Victoria), does not count because it outside of Melbourne.

The staff in hospitals really only as good as the funding allows them to be - if they are understaffed that is usually the fault of the government!

Yes it is

I live on the West Coast NZ and our hospital care is excellent. I went to the emergency department and there was a woman there who had stubbed her toe on the beach. Then a guy came in who had fallen from a ladder - and he was seen first. They have plenty of staff - the triage nurse only had about 1 triage per hour while I was there, so hardly busy !!

I have found that the quickest way to be seen by a Dr at the emergency room is to vomit...Go figure!

I have only been to the ER once, when I broke my leg. They transferred me to another local hospital because the surgeon there was more skilled in treating my spiral fracture. I guess that it means that both hospitals are good at treating emergencies.

The only reason they are full is there are people who aren’t sick and need to be sent packing. Emergency places are emergency use only not for someone with a sore finger,headache.

Where is Nelson Hospital? Never had any issues in my neck of the woods.

No. As always long lines. Excessive waiting times

In New Zealand Absolutely not

Yes to confidence.

i dunnnnnnnnnnnno

Since we use a triage system, things are handled pretty well. If you bumped your toe in the middle of the night, then you'll pretty much go to the bottom of the list. When I had my heart attack, less the 30 minutes later, I had a stent implanted in my chest. I feel quite confident that my care couldn't have come any faster or more completely. So sorry toe guy!

Not bad, with private providers for imaging and drugs in the same building but it really only a glorified clinic

At the Williamstown hospital I was born as a baby weighing 10 pounds 14 ounces .Michael

No way! Here in WA, Hospitals are of the lowest priority. That's why WA was completely closed down during the pandemic to protect the incompetent health minister of the time who is now, unbelievably, still our premier. Well done Roger Cook!

My area has several hospitals with emergency rooms that give good care but I am aware of some areas that do not have any hospital at all.

The Government doesn’t fund the public hospitals any where near enough. I do know that a portion of Barwon health’s public hospital has give funds to the Epworth Private hospital, now that just isn’t right! If people can afford to go to a private hospital, why are those that can’t afford expensive private hospitals forced to wait several hours when attending their public ER hospitals???

No, in Melbourne all emergency departments and hospitals are CRAP

It depends on where you are. In South Australia within the Public Hospital Sector it is a total, complete and utter disaster. Ambulance ramping has become a National Scandal. patients needing Urgent care are left in those ambulance for hours before they get to even see a Triage Nurse. The Medical and Ambulance Staff are fantastic and when possible provide the Best of Care. This has been going on for getting close to 24 years. The politicians chatter about it, throw money at it by buying more ambulances but the hospitals, the newest one will end up costing over $AU11 billion by the time the State Government has finished paying for it, is simply Not Fit for Purpose. They squander money on Space Science which, other than the scientists, benefits few, if any, other people. The politicians have their pet projects on which they waste endless millions on and then abandon such as the Green Hydrogen Plant on which they wasted over $AU600 million before abandoning it. All the hundreds of millions they have wasted could have provided hundreds of Hospital beds.

I don't know, I just hope so. My doctor told me "STAY out of the Hospital"

Very much so. Compassionate and efficient staff. The facilities are excellent and you know you’re being looked after there.

Can be hit & miss. Totally depends on the staff working that shift.

More hospitals being built but still understaffing in all hospitals within Australia generally. Of course wait times will be excessive if staff numbers are not what they should be.

Absolutely! I'd have been dead last week but for the Local Emergency Department!

no not at all look at the so called doctors on strike in New South Wales on strike most of them foreigners

Yes and no. Depends on the hospital and state ur in.

Here in Auckland too some people are left in the ambulance for hours while the emergency dept tries to catch up its all down to funding and staffing

I personally haven't been for well over 3 or 4 years, they are busy enough that they don't need my old man's complaints, but I think they seem to have become a GP clinic, I mean I can take 4 or 5 weeks to see a GP now vs 8 to 10-hour wait, why wouldn't you go to the hospital if you are crook

Yes. There will always be concerns and challenges in the healthcare system there is just never enough resources. Our nearest ED does an amazing job with its resources. My family and friends have all had good experiences there even with ridiculous wait times!Edited 10-Apr-25 09:43am

All hospitals here in Perth are experiencing ambulance ramping as no beds for new patients. Surgery is delayed again & again. Not at all good situation!

Unfortunately, The health system is very disappointing

I’m not happy with my hospital: it’s full of sick people!

Absolutely not. Unfortunately I have been several times and was a bad experience every time

my nearest hospital is about 2 klm away and yes it is very well up to the stand i expect

The nearest hospital is 1.5 k away from my house. The emergency dept is set up to deal with 100 bike accidents per day. The 4 nearest hospitals are set up to handle the same number of bike accident victims per day.Edited 10-Apr-25 09:59am

Not at all. My GP had gone home for the day so I had to go to A&E for antibiotics to treat pneumonia. I knew it was that. It's a recurring issue for me and it's clearly on my file. I had to wait from 5.30pm till 4 in the morning as my temperature grew higher and ability to breathe decreased. I said I just needed antibiotics and could one of them please just read my file. When I finally was shown through the door I had to sit and answer all sorts of questions. I was very sick and stressed and told them what I thought of their triage system. I was told to stay calm. I said I was calm earlier but they waited till I wasn't. Then I saw the doctor finally. You wouldn't believe it. He said I should have had treatment earlier and not let it progress so far! He wanted to admit me to the hospital! All I'd needed was a script!

Just recently I had instructions to stop eating then drinking for the sake of local antaceptic. Although I do drink a lot of water, and handled it okay, when I had the operation around 5pm instead of 12pm I was wondering if they where trying to make people die of thirst these days since I hadn't had any water since 10AM. Of course this will all be solved when we can have our Neo robots perform Surgery in our own homes. Edited 10-Apr-25 09:05am

No.

Yes it's fine nurse's work to hard😊

No I don't have confidence in the emergency department do to lack of staff

40 minutes away in good weather, but absolute gems as far as helpfulness, compassion, efficiency...

saved me twice, good enough for me..... I have found over the years wandering around on this rock we live on that nobody with a hospital in their city likes it, unless its the big university hospitals etc, I'm talking regular size small cities.. strange human behavior

yes Nelson hospital is very busy. Lack of staff and the ambulance crew have a very busy time as well and are not able to get to people until they are in a very bad way and need extra care which they give while waiting for ed to be cleared.

I had to wait for 14 hours at ER before I was told there was no rooms or doctors available to operate to remove my gallbladder. I was in severe pain, just finished radiation treatments for breast cancer and even went to my family doctor first.

One problem is that hospitals are under-staffed, under-funded, and under-equipped. For that you can thank fools in government who would rather waste piles of tax-payer money on pointless things like sports stadiums that sit empty 95% of the year, petty silliness like reverting all the road speed limits changed by the previous government, etc. 😠 The other problem are all the people with non-emergencies treating the hospital as a drop-in GP centre. Some are there because they can't afford the GP, some are there because it so difficult to get a GP appointment within a sensible timeframe (partly due to GPs doing "checkups" on perfectly healthy people), some are there simply because they do not have a regular GP (tourists being one example).Edited 10-Apr-25 08:32am

Yes, and they have been pretty great!

No. Always long wait time, ambulances piled up looking after their cases in the carpark as best they can, very sad state of affairs in the Lucky Country where the local long term citizens are considered less important than giving millions$$$s to foreign ware mongers!

Yes we have a good local emergency department and they are very good and you never have to wait long for them to get to you

absolutely not, but if people weren't there because they would afford to go to the Dr we would have half the issues

Yes

Yes

No. The staff are overworked and the hospital is way too small for our population. The main problem we have is we live on the border of Vic and NSW and neither wants to give enough money for it. Even worse we aren't a swinging seat either.

yes its new my old one 2009 my daughter was born in didn't make it to women's hospital

Emergency facility at Redcliffe Hospital seems to be very busy, witness the huge number of sirens throughout the day. Busy place but from what I have seen,it is an efficiently run centre.

The paramedics and nurses at the emergency department are working their buds off with the resources they have to serve the sick and to save lives. I am all for them. God bless them

Yes I do have confidence in the local ED. You hsve to have confidence in them. They do most times have excessive wait times and waiting patients but they do their best to help It’s a place I have not nice memories about but if I’m unwell and it’s the only option then i just hsve to grin and be patient. They do their best. Unfortunately our local hospital seems to be far too small for the growing province and as well is understaffed. The last time I was there about 6 weeks ago I’d been sent by my doctor to get a scan. I was told by a trainee (might be a doctor) not told who she was and my companion was a professional she sniggered at the diagnosis and I said impossible which it was. I was sent with a prescription which was impossible for me to use. Suffered on for a few more days and my body eventually rectified itself

Not really, so as when I had big problems recently, and end up going to the Royal Perth hospital, where after a period of waiting, and after being admitted to the Emergency Ward, in no time was admitted to a ward for treatment, will be using this Hospital as they have a whole range of Medical Professionals to attend to my problems

What country are you talking about???

Mine is pretty good.

My local hospital is pretty good.

Phone the paramedics don’t drive .

Luckily I haven't had to use it, my understanding is if they can't cope,as they are a small country hospital, they then transfer you to another hospital.

Very much so Community Hospital East is the only place I go.

There are two world-class-hospital where I reside (and both hospitals are in walking distance for me) - and they both have world-class-emergency-medical-room-service (everything is ranked in the USA) and neither hospital has a waiting room area for you to wait in before you see an emergency room MD or nurse. The richest neighborhoods have no waiting room areas - you see an ER medical doctor or nurse - immediately. Middle-class neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods - have waiting room areas (in the poorest neighborhoods you could die in the waiting room and still not be seen by ER doctor or ER Nurse).Edited 10-Apr-25 09:54am

No! and if we spend this money on defence we won't be able to improve it. Or the education system etc etc. (New Zealand)