An emergency department leader says the increased overcrowding at EDs has been happening year on year and is entirely predictable.
A report into Middlemore Hospital's ED found only half of all patients at the department are seen within six hours, describing it as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe".
It follows the death of a woman who left because of delays in being seen.
Dr John Bonning, spokesperson for the College of Emergency Medicine, told Morning Report that the solutions lie in the whole hospital, not solely in ED.
He says hospitals like Middlemore running at 98 per cent capacity can't function properly.
Dr Bonning says more money is needed for workers, and new hospitals.
