Waikato Hospital Emergency Department

Very disappointing experience at Waikato Hospital Child Emergency Department.nnWe arrived at 11:10 AM with our 16-month-old baby who had a high fever for 3 days. My eldest child had surgery yesterday, so our family was already exhausted and stressed.nnWe waited around 3.5 hours with almost no proper assessment or communication. One nurse briefly checked the temperature, then we were left waiting again. It felt like nobody cared.nnWhat shocked me most was seeing reviews saying waiting times can be 6–12 hours. That is a pathetic situation for a public hospital emergency department, especially for babies and young children.nnParents bring sick children to ED because they are scared and need urgent medical attention, not to be ignored or treated like they are unimportant.nIn the end, we went to another hospital where our child was properly checked.nnVery poor communication, poor patient care, and no compassion for families.

Yes I had a looooong wait. But on some serious reflection I realised the guy behind me may have waited longer. What cant be changed is the friendliness and professionalism from everyone, and that includes those who helped before I arrived. Wasn't a life or death scenario. But was served with a smile, never the less.

Doing a difficult but necessary job, the team here is world class. Waiting times vary but you will be seen. Toilets are available. Also a cup of tea or coffee are to be had here. Located at the top of the Pembroke Street hill there are limited parks. There is access for wheelchairs into the building. Also disability parking spaces are available too.

Very poor! Waiting hours is forever! Until the patient die of waiting. Only few patient today but no nurses attending the patients’ needs. Doctors don’t have empathy. Reception ladies are grumpy and very slow

I have three babies, I’ve been to the emergency area for baby’s multiple times..it’s always the same, nothing changes, you get forgotten about. I’ve even woken up at 4:30am after being there for 12+ hours and they forgot me and my son was even in there‍ fast forward to now, I have a 8 week old warrior who’s struggling to breathe, his cough is terrible due to the change of weather which sucks I thought he would be a priority here because of how young he is, I was wrong! We’ve been here for longer than 12+ hours & we still haven’t been seen by a doctor….i see nurses doing nothing but talk about “holiday” they sit in the front happily talking while all of us parents just wait for hours and hours and hours