Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Thirty-six Bay of Plenty DHB staff terminated

Tauranga Hospital. Photo / George Novak

Nurses and midwives are among 36 Bay of Plenty District Health Board staff who have lost their jobs due to not getting vaccinated.

Technical Advisory Services - an organisation representing district health boards - released nationwide DHB staff vaccination data on December 23. It revealed that out of the 36 employees whose Bay of Plenty roles were terminated, nine were nurses, three were midwives, and there were 23 others.

Numbers less than three in any category were included in the other category for privacy reasons.

A further 19 Bay of Plenty DHB staff resigned and 54 have been stood down, including those who had applied for a medical exemption or were waiting for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This did not include people who have been issued notices of termination, or whose resignations had been accepted by the DHB.

Of the 54 stood down, 24 were nurses, three were doctors and 27 were categorised as other.

All DHB staff were required to have had their first Covid vaccination by 11.59pm on November 15 under the Government's Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order.

Lead DHB chief executive Rosemary Clements, who represents all DHBs in New Zealand, said the number of unvaccinated staff unable to work reduced by almost 300 over the past month across the country.

Clements said 61 staff at DHBs stood down had received the AstraZeneca injection since it became available on November 29 and had been able to return to work.

Others will have opted to have the Pfizer vaccine and a small number of people received medical exemptions.

Nationally, 226 people remained stood down, 140 resigned and 814 have had their employment terminated.

These figures include 44 doctors, 418 nurses and 72 midwives – compared with 52 doctors, 518 nurses, and 90 midwives a month ago.

Clements said DHBs terminated employment where no other alternative or redeployment options could be found.

''This step has been taken when staff have confirmed they will not be vaccinated. DHBs are complying fully with all employment law requirements and we have engaged and agreed with health sector unions on the processes we are following,'' she said.

She said DHBs put service delivery mitigations in place well over a month ago, if needed, to minimise any impact to services. These included careful staff rostering, and close monitoring of any areas where there may be some staff shortage, she said.

"Our absolute focus continues to be on ensuring continuity of patient care."

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Pete Chandler said: "We're continuing to work with staff who are currently stood down to identify any possible solutions to maintain them within our team."

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service were approached for comment.