Picket march in support of hospital
AS long as Waitaki District Health Services continues to push through its proposed staffing restructure at Oamaru Hospital, the Waitaki Community Hospital Action Group will continue to put pressure on the Waitaki District Councilcontrolled company.
That was the message from group chairwoman Dr Janice Clayton at a peaceful picket staged at Takaro Park, which borders the hospital, yesterday.
About 100 people, many with placards denouncing the ‘‘proposal for change’’ document the company put forward last month, made their feelings known at the picket.
Among them were several staff members, some with their mouths gagged with scarves.
Passing motorists honked in support of the hourlong picket that started at noon, before the group walked east along Severn St, south on lower Thames St and then Steward St and back to the park.
On February 11, the Otago Daily Times obtained a copy of the confidential document distributed to staff that included proposed staffing restructuring and the reconfiguration of the hospital’s layout to increase efficiency.
Under the 18page proposal, the number of fulltime equivalent nursing roles would be reduced, meaning additional responsibilities for senior nurses on duty and an increase in healthcare assistants.
Administration, occupational therapy, orderly and cleaning roles are also affected.
Dr Clayton, a former district nursing manager at the hospital, said the group chose to picket against the proposal as it considered the disestablishment of some roles to be a ‘‘major risk’’ to the community as a whole.
‘‘We felt in the last couple of weeks the staff have come under a huge battering. Their morale has been low. We’ve known they are feeling really demoralised by this whole process. There are people who have been in the services for a very long time . . . some are new people just on the ground and we wanted to show our support for those people and to say ‘we care about you. You’re an important part of our community’.’’
She was encouraged by the public support and said the group would continue to be active in its opposition of the proposal.
‘‘There is a range of things that will have to happen to get the point across. This is one thing. There is many other aspects we are attacking, including addressing things outside of here to the commissioner of the SDHB [and] to the Ministry of Health. We feel it’s a multipronged approach and if they entrench in their position, the pressure will get greater.’’
A person at the picket with ties to the hospital, who did not want to be named, said they understood the aim of proposal, but said they way it had been actioned was ‘‘absolutely atrocious’’.
Another said staff felt ‘‘alienated left, right and centre’’, and many felt they were ‘‘not involved’’ in the process.
Waitaki deputy Mayor Melanie Tavendale attended the picket and said its turnout showed ‘‘how important we find our health services and how much support we have got for our nurses’’.
She said while the company that owned and operated the hospital was a councilcontrolled organisation, the council’s power to become involved with decisions at the company’s board level was limited.
‘‘I think we all want the same thing, which is the best outcome for health services and how we get there . . . ‘‘It’s quite a challenging subject for us to be across, but we are certainly making sure we are asking a lot of questions and we are listening to a lot of feedback we are getting and trying to get an understanding of where we can help.’’