Hospitals suffer with unhealthy staff levels
Workers reveal the strain of being short staffed. Hannah Martin and Sam Kilmister report.
Pervasive ‘‘dangerous’’ understaffing across New Zealand’s district health boards is leaving patients and staff vulnerable, according to workers.
Survey responses from almost 700 allied, public health and technical staff across the 20 DHBs highlighted ‘‘unsafe practices’’, burnout, and long wait times among consequences of chronic understaffing.
In August, Public Service Association union (PSA) asked its members what impacts short-staffing and unfilled vacancies were having on them. The anonymous responses paint a grim picture of a sector under strain.
Allied, public health and technical staff comprise around 130 different occupations, including alcohol and drug clinicians, psychologists, social workers, anaesthetic technicians and scientists. Issues raised were the same – the risk of ‘‘irreversible’’ impacts on patient health and wellbeing through long wait times was a major concern.
Shortages at the coalface meant patients were getting sicker while they waited, leaving some with permanent injury and life-limiting conditions, according to the survey.
On ‘‘a good day’’ a pharmacist could review medicines for 60 patients with ‘‘complex’’ needs, one reported. And a physiotherapist with less than eight months’ experience reported covering four high acuity wards at once – including the ICU – with ‘‘minimal support’’ when their senior colleagues were on leave.
Capital and Coast DHB service leader David Robiony-Rogers said vacancies weren’t being filled, and staff were forced to come to work sick. The risk of errors had ‘‘certainly’’ increased.
‘‘What people are telling me is that they’re scared of making mistakes because they’re tired, they feel overworked, they feel like the demands of what they need to do in the hours that they’re getting paid for is getting greater and greater.’’
Physiotherapist Julia, who didn’t want her last name published, said fewer staff meant patients faced longer waits, causing their conditions to get worse. ‘‘What may be a small problem could get worse because of a lack of staff.’’
PSA national secretary Erin Polaczuk said the healthcare system could not keep running on the ‘‘good-will’’, dedication and sacrifices of its workers.
PSA has been in negotiations with DHBs to renew the allied, public health and technical collective agreement for almost a year. Around 9000 allied health PSA members will soon vote on whether to accept a minimum pay rise of 9 per cent.
Polaczuk said while pay adjustments were useful, it was crucial to fill vacancies to create a safer system. ‘‘We shouldn’t have been accepting it for as long as we have.’’
The strength of New Zealand’s health workforce continued to be ‘‘an important focus’’ for the Ministry of Health, Health Workforce NZ group manager Claire Austin said in a statement. ‘‘We recognise there are pressures in some areas of the health workforce and we are continuing to work with relevant sector groups.’’
Immigration NZ’s immediate skills shortage list includes anaesthetic technicians, dialysis technicians, midwives, registered nurses (aged care), registered medical officers , specialist physicians: cardiologists, paediatricians, emergency medicine specialists, and opthamologists.
On the long-term skills shortage list are clinical psychologists, diagnostic and interventional radiologists, general practitioners, medical radiation therapists, medical laboratory scientists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, medical physicists, physiotherapists, psychiatrists, sonographers, palliative medicine physicians, and general surgeons.