Fears grow over nurses’ OT shifts
THE Tasmanian Health Service spent just under $2 million on overtime for nurses and midwives in the three months from November, right to information documents reveal.
The figures have been described as “unsustainable” by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian branch.
Documents show the Health Service spent $1,964,770 on overtime for nurses and midwives from November through January, with the Royal Hobart Hospital at $599,272 and the Launceston General Hospital at $690,062.
Statewide, nurses and midwives worked 32,775 hours of overtime during the period — 8596 of them at the Royal and 14,175 at the LGH.
Last year it was reported nurses and midwives worked more than 16,000 hours of overtime between May and June, costing close to $1 million.
Nursing union state president Emily Shepherd said the new figures were alarming, and did not include the number of shifts where there were not enough nurses or midwives working to meet safe staffing requirements because staff were not able to work overtime or double shifts.
“I think the overtime figures are really just demonstrating the reality of the overtime and double shifts that nurses and midwives are working across the state,” Ms Shepherd said.
“It indicates that nurses and midwives across the state are working 10,000 hours in overtime and double shifts a month, that is just unsustainable and that’s a real concern that we’ve had for some time.
“There absolutely needs to be an increase in baseline staffing.”
Ms Shepherd said there was a need to provide additional support to graduate nurses to upskill and reduce the need for the Health Service to use agency staff or double shifts.
Agency staffing in the South of the state cost the Health Service $955,016 during the three-month period.
Acting Health Minister Elise Archer said the Government acknowledged that overtime hours had been a longterm challenge for successive governments.
“We have a plan to employ 800 new nurses over the next six years as part of our record $757 million investment to build a better health service for Tasmanians,” Ms Archer said.