Emergency department (ED) doctors: what are they saying? Those who are actually at the coalface. Twelve ED doctors from Palmerston North Hospital recently wrote to the Minister, saying, "There are people with major trauma, waiting for more than nine hours in wheelchairs." ED doctors at Wairarapa Hospital recently said, "It is beyond a crisis; it is a catastrophe." ED doctors at Waikato Hospital reported a crisis, and an elderly woman at North Shore Hospital waited outside in freezing conditions in a leaky tent. Minister Little, this is what a health crisis looks like. 