Staff at Tauranga Hospital's Emergency Department are bracing for the annual cocktail of 'alcohol, drugs and violence” on New Year's night.

In addition to the expected 200 people on New Year's Day, in the 10 hours from 11pm on New Year's Eve to 9am on New Year's Day, the ED will see numbers exceeding that of an 'average busy day”, according to Tauranga Hospital ED ClinicalDirector Dr Derek Sage.

Tauranga Hospital ED ClinicalDirector Dr Derek Sage. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

'We expect, as has occurred during previous years, 95 per cent of presentations during New Year's night to be in some way related to alcohol use or abuse.

'Alcohol, drugs and violence will be the theme for the night and the following daytime will have spillage of that theme, with people delaying their attendance from the night before.”

Derek says signs are already pointing to a hectic period with Sunday seeing 167 presentations including a major trauma.

'These are figures that we now expect to see during the festive season,” he adds.

'As a result we will have an emergency specialist supervising an increased medical workforce to deal with the demand.”

Tauranga's ED staff, however, are not alone.

Emergency staff across the country are braced for an influx of drunk patients, with a recent survey showing alcohol harm as a lead cause for admissions.

The survey, taken at more than 100 ED's across New Zealand and Australia at 2am on a Saturday night earlier this month, found one out of seven patients attended as a result of the harmful use of alcohol.

In some hot spots as many as half the patients were in the ED because of alcohol, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine study found.

Lead researcher Dr Diana Egerton-Warburton describes the findings as worrying and shocking.

"With and overall rate of one in eight it's quite shocking,” she says.

'It's the equivalent of almost 400 patients across Australia and New Zealand at one time presenting due to one cause, which is alcohol.”

She says there were hot-spot emergency departments that have higher alcohol harm-related numbers than the one-in-eight statistic across both countries in all areas, regardless of their economic status.

Affected patients could be violent and aggressive towards staff and other patients.

Derek says as always, the Emergency Department will be exercising zero tolerance to any form of abuse towards the staff during this New Year's celebrations.

'If you have to attend the Emergency Department, staff will deal with your issues in a professional manner,” he says.

'All that we ask in return is your patience and respect.”

He says it is arguable that none of these will be accidents, likening someone visiting the ED after becoming intoxicated and surrounding themselves with other intoxicated people as speeding in wet conditions.

'It is equivalent to deciding to speed on an unfamiliar highway during poor weather conditions,” he adds.

'Would one be surprised that an ‘accident' occurs?”

Walk-in medical clinics in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui will also be open for patients. Accident & Healthcare on 2nd Avenue, Tauranga will be open from 8am to 9pm and Bayfair & Papamoa Doctors, 42 Girven Road, Mt Maunganui will be open 8am to 5pm on weekends and Public Holidays.