Peak season for coughs and colds has contributed to Hawke's Bay Hospital reaching full capacity.

Hawke's Bay Hospital is at full capacity and the district health board is asking people to seek medical care elsewhere unless it is an emergency.

Chief medical officer John Gommans said only about a third of people presenting at the hospital's emergency department were being admitted, meaning too many non-emergency cases were "clogging up the department".

The hospital had reshuffled surgeries and increased bed numbers to deal with the busy period.

With a lot of coughs and colds circulating in the community, it was important that people stayed away from work when they were sick, and kept sick children home to help prevent bugs from spreading, he said.