Unfilled vacancies fuelling shortfalls on the Tweed

NURSES in the Tweed say they are being stretched to the limit as multiple vacancies remain unfilled.

Patients face lengthy waiting lists or being left in limbo as Northern NSW Local Health District workers await the release of a much-anticipated state health report.

The staffing issue comes as nurses and other medical staff struggle to work around a lack of beds, space and equipment at the ageing Tweed Hospital.

Nurse and Tweed Community Nurses branch of the NSWNMA secretary Rosalie Scott said her stressed colleagues had staged an unpaid protest outside the hospital last Thursday.

The Health Services Union and seperate NSW Nurses and Midwives Association called on the NSW government to release the Community Health report and provide certainty to workers.

Ms Scott told the Bulletin patients were being affected by staff shortages which were in part due to a lack of replacements for specialist nurses who had left.

“There are numerous positions that are vacant and haven’t been recruited permanently,” she said.

“We had two audiometry nurses who retired in the past two months. Those audiometry services target children before school age.

“Indigenous children are at high risk of having hearing

problems. If that’s not picked up early they have difficulties when they get to school.”

Ms Scott said a third nurse was trained to assist but was mostly stuck staffing another position.

“That means these children are on long waiting lists or they don’t get to see anyone at all. That’s a target group at significant risk,” she said.

“A men’s health position hasn’t been recruited for 12 months and it’s the only men’s health position in the Local Health District. What happens to all the men who have a diagnosis of prostate cancer?”

Ms Scott has been unable to verify the exact number of positions remaining unfilled, or how many full-time jobs have been switched to “rolling three month contracts” with “no certainty”.

“We’ve asked for that information but it has not been released,” she said.

Ms Scott said the district’s funding model was “activity based” and she feared “if specialist nurses are not being backfilled and activity is low that reflects the funding made”.

Health Services Union organiser Peter Kelly called on the government to “treat the workers with respect and show them what the intent is and release the draft document”.

The health district did not comment by deadline and flagged it would respond to questions from the Bulletin today.