Christchurch Hospital has emergency plans to pitch a tent outside as corridors fill up with patients in beds, according to one doctor.

And in some cases, beds are already being angled in corridors in order to fit more in.

Hospitals around the country are also feeling the pressure of winter sickness and while the government put $25 million into extra staffing and beds to get ready, Christchurch Hospital Dr Dominic Fleischer says there still isn't enough.

Speaking to Morning Report, Fleischer said it was busy - but not unexpected.

While an increase in patients is a "normal" winter occurrence, the number needing to be seen seemed to get worse each year - and this year is "certainly worse" than last.

Patients being seen in hallways and waiting rooms was not new, Fleischer said. But where beds used to be parallel parked in the corridors, they were now having to angle them to fit in more.

This essentially blocked off the space and he wasn't sure what the next option was.

"This is sort of innovation in a dangerous manner," he said.

"Either we have to go up and bunk some patients or we have to go out, go out into the car park or the ambulance bay, and put patients in tents."

Fleischer said plans were drawn up for using tents outside but officials would hold off on that as long as possible as the "look will be atrocious".

But "corridor medicine" was bad and patients couldn't be looked after properly, he said.

"Our corridors are full and getting worse. Worse than last year and I'm sure next year will be worse than this year."

There were not enough monitors for patients in corridors, no call buttons or meal service, he said. Patients felt vulnerable and it was not a dignified way to treat them.

"In every way it's substandard.

"I've accepted it for a few minutes while patients are waiting to go to a bed in the ward, but there are patients there for hours or overnight.

"You come in the next morning and the patient's spent the entire night in a corridor with no sleep. It's distressing and upsetting to them and to the staff, of course, because it's just a horrible way to treat someone and it's getting worse."

Fleischer said there was no easy solution, but easier access to GPs after hours would help.

Corridors start filling up from around 5pm with patients who could not get care elsewhere and Fleischer said it was common for patients to call their GP and be told to go to emergency because no appointments were available.

It was also common for the one 24-hour emergency clinic to turn people away because they, too, were overwhelmed.

Those people then went to ED at the hospital, Fleischer said.

Sickness was increasing and some staff were exhausted but "it's what we do".

Earlier this month, Health NZ announced it was adding 30 more temporary beds than initially expected to hospitals around the country in order to meet winter demand.

The $25 million funding boost in March added 71 beds to hospitals ahead of the colder months.

The number of extra beds was expected to be 103 by mid-July.

Thirty-five beds were added to hospitals in the midland region; 12 at Waikato, 18 at Rotorua and five at Thames, along with 12 at Wellington Hospital.

In the South Island, 12 were added at Burwood, eight at Christchurch, and 14 across the Southern region.

"In addition, we are expecting 14 in Middlemore to open on 8 July and a further eight in Christchurch to open on 17 July, totalling 103 nationwide," Health NZ said earlier this month.

"The slight variation from the original plan's bed alignment is due to hospitals reviewing demand and mak[ing] changes accordingly."