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Emergency Q app

An app for people with non-emergency problems who need care after hours or those unable to get an appointment with their GP.
If you're in a hospital emergency department, the app helps you decide if your symptoms could be treated by your GP or at a local Accident & Emergency clinic instead.

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Emergency Q app	By Healthcare Applications Limited
	Features Forecasts wait plus treatment times for non-emergency patients at specific hospital emergency departments and accident and emergency (A&E) clinics in some areas in Aotearoa New Zealand — at this stage, that is the Northern region from Hamilton to Whangarei. A clear description of whether you need to go to an emergency department for your symptoms, based on the “What is a medical emergency” section.
Country of origin	New Zealand
Clinical review	Read a clinical review below.
Security and privacy	Does the app: Collect medical information? Yes Require a login? No Have password protection? No Have a privacy policy? Yes Require internet access to use? Yes Read more about safety and security when using apps. Brochures: Tips to improve your privacy and security [PDF, 65 KB] Healthify He Puna Waiora, NZ Staying safe online(external link) Netsafe, NZ
Cost	Free
Advertisements	This app contains no ads.
How to get the app	(external link) (external link) (external link)

The Emergency Q app lets you see and compare live wait plus treatment times between the emergency department (ED) of some local hospitals and nearby accident and emergency (A&E) clinics, although only a limited number are currently connected to the app. You can also learn about what kind of symptoms you should go to a hospital ED for instead of an A&E clinic.

The app asks questions to determine if you need to be in ED and tells you how long it would take until you're seen for your condition.
For non-medical emergencies, it shows you other options in the community, how long it would take to be seen and treated there, and how much it would cost.
The Emergency Q app aims to reduce congestion in hospital EDs and save you time if you have a non-urgent condition.
You can also save time by joining the queue at your after-hours medical provider from wherever you are.

Currently, the app is available for use at Waitematā DHB (Waitakere Hospital) and Counties Manukau DHB (Middlemore Hospital). When you arrive at ED you will see a screen with a feed from Emergency Q showing you what conditions the ED is set up to deal with and what conditions can be attended to by your GP or A&E clinic, along with expected wait plus treatment times.

*Please note, there appears to be two versions of the Emergency Q App. One is used by staff working in emergency rooms, which works around triaging and allocation. This app review is very specifically for the patient-facing version of the app

For the complete app description, go to app website(external link), Google Play(external link), App Store(external link) or, for a more detailed review, see reviews below.

PROS	CONS
✔ Real-time data feeds – live wait plus treatment time data (forecasted averages). ✔ A&E clinic cost is based on your details. As part of the testing process this was compared to information on the clinics' websites, which was shown to be accurate for ACC, non-ACC, Community service card holder and children’s appointment costs. ✔ An electronic voucher is generated to streamline the registration process at the healthcare provider. ✔ Information about what is and isn’t a medical emergency. ✔ You can input multiple patients (such as a friend or dependent).	✘ The app only considers your current location, not your residential address, when suggesting healthcare locations (even though it asks you to put in your residential address). For example, if your residential address was in South Auckland, but your current location was on the North Shore, it will only suggest North Shore healthcare providers. ✘ It doesn’t indicate the locations of non-participating hospitals and A&E clinics. For example, if you're on the North Shore, it will only show you the Waitakere and Middlemore Hospital locations (but not the location of North Shore or Auckland City hospitals). Even if wait time data is not available, it would be helpful if the app showed the location of all hospitals. It would also be helpful to show clinics that are available but not currently open (especially for non-emergency presentations). ✘ There is no easily accessible list of participating providers to determine whether the app is appropriate for the your location or not. At the time of writing, it appears to be connected to Middlemore Hospital, Waitakere Hospital and some surrounding A&E clinics. ✘ It doesn’t tell you what DHB your residential address comes under. ✘ You cannot view live data without entering in your personal details. ✘ Costs shown are for Aotearoa New Zealand residents only. ✘ It doesn’t provide information about what conditions pharmacists can treat.

PROS

CONS

✔ Real-time data feeds – live wait plus treatment time data (forecasted averages).

✔ A&E clinic cost is based on your details. As part of the testing process this was compared to information on the clinics' websites, which was shown to be accurate for ACC, non-ACC, Community service card holder and children’s appointment costs.

✔ An electronic voucher is generated to streamline the registration process at the healthcare provider.

✔ Information about what is and isn’t a medical emergency.

✔ You can input multiple patients (such as a friend or dependent).

✘ The app only considers your current location, not your residential address, when suggesting healthcare locations (even though it asks you to put in your residential address). For example, if your residential address was in South Auckland, but your current location was on the North Shore, it will only suggest North Shore healthcare providers.

✘ It doesn’t indicate the locations of non-participating hospitals and A&E clinics. For example, if you're on the North Shore, it will only show you the Waitakere and Middlemore Hospital locations (but not the location of North Shore or Auckland City hospitals). Even if wait time data is not available, it would be helpful if the app showed the location of all hospitals. It would also be helpful to show clinics that are available but not currently open (especially for non-emergency presentations).

✘ There is no easily accessible list of participating providers to determine whether the app is appropriate for the your location or not. At the time of writing, it appears to be connected to Middlemore Hospital, Waitakere Hospital and some surrounding A&E clinics.

✘ It doesn’t tell you what DHB your residential address comes under.

✘ You cannot view live data without entering in your personal details.

✘ Costs shown are for Aotearoa New Zealand residents only.

✘ It doesn’t provide information about what conditions pharmacists can treat.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Chris Lawrence, Community-based physiotherapist
Date of review: August 2024
Version: 1.14.1
Platform: Android
Comment: This is a great idea for an app and is very helpful especially when you need to make a decision about where to go for treatment. Presumably, this also has a lot of benefit for medical centres and hospitals, by having patients present to locations which are less busy.
The major flaw with the app is the lack of available options for clinic sites. For example, this tester is aware of three Accident and Emergency clinics within a 10km radius of my house, however none of these came up on the app as options. It would be great to have the app expanded to include a more comprehensive array of the different clinics and hospitals available across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Safety concerns: The app only seems to show hospitals and emergency clinics that are registered with the app. Therefore, for someone needing emergency treatment, the app may not be showing the nearest location for medical care. It would be great if the app could also show other hospitals (eg, North Shore, Auckland City) and Accident and Emergency clinics, even if they aren't associated with the app.
Please note – the app only shows the Accident and Emergency clinics open at that time. For example, if you use the app in the weekend, or in the evening, it can show just 4 available clinics, but during weekday business hours there are a lot more options available.
New Zealand relevance: Yes. The app is very relevant to Aotearoa New Zealand users. Note: The app is only available where hospitals and clinics are connected to Emergency Q. At this stage, that is the Northern region from Hamilton to Whangarei.

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Disclaimer: The NZ Health App Library is a free consumer service to help you decide whether a health app would be suitable for you. Our review process is independent. We have no relationship with the app developers or companies and no responsibility for the service they provide. This means that if you have an issue with one of the apps we have reviewed, you will need to contact the app developer or company directly.