One volunteer said he would return to his role at Tauranga Hospital if the opportunity arose. Photo / George Novak
Volunteers at Tauranga Hospital who were laid off in 2020 due to Covid-19 have not been able to return, despite the hospital being "so short-staffed".
One former volunteer believed it was a "disgrace", while a former employee said it was "really sad", particularly as hospital staff were under "so much stress".
However, Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty says it is planning to revive the volunteer programme early next year. The programme was put on hold to protect staff, visitors, patients and volunteers from Covid-19.
One volunteer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardise getting his job back, said he had been a volunteer at Tauranga Hospital for a number of years years.
"Everybody got laid off - we just suddenly got a text message and [were] told we weren't working anymore."
He believed it was a "disgrace".
"We hear all this talk about the hospital being so short-staffed... there was a perfectly good system that somebody, in their wisdom, ruined."
He said he would return to his role if the opportunity arose, but every time he asked the hospital when the volunteer programme would start again, he received a "non-committal" answer.
"I just liked meeting people and helping people, you know? Because I'm retired, it just made me feel as if I was doing something useful.
"But I felt we'd been treated really badly about it."
He said other volunteers worked on the wards doing "whatever the staff wanted done, really".
"They were sitting with patients and talking to them. There was also a visiting dog service - dogs used to come in and visit the patients, and all of that got scrapped."
A former employee at Tauranga Hospital, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the main role of volunteers was to support patients and staff.
They worked as receptionists, concierges, administrators, and did pet therapy, which was "hugely successful".
"They're the most amazing people... They're there because they love it, and it gave them a purpose, because most of them were retirees."
The unpaid volunteers had contributed "thousands and thousands of dollars worth of their time" to the hospital, she said.
She said it was "really sad" the volunteers had been let go, "especially with the staff being under so much stress".
Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty chief operating officer Bronwyn Anstis said it intended to reinstate a volunteer team "as soon as it is appropriate to do so".
The programme was put on hold in mid-2020 when the first cases of Covid started appearing in the community, affecting between 60 and 80 volunteers.
"We would like to express our gratitude and sincere appreciation to all the volunteers who have given such selfless service to their community over many years."
It had been regularly reviewing the situation over the past year to assess risk and context, which was "an ongoing process".
Anstis said the majority of volunteers tended to be in the "high-risk population" for Covid.
When the programme was put on hold, there was a directive to protect "at-risk people" such as older people or those with existing health issues. This included volunteers and employed staff, she said.
"Over the past two years, we have moved through different levels of lockdown, with the hospital often not being accessible to the public to reduce the risk of Covid transmission."
She said the delay in volunteers returning had been difficult for patients, staff and volunteers.
"However, the risks associated with increased people on site, transmission from visitors to patients and ongoing community cases require a careful approach to recommencing the volunteer programme."
It was planning to recruit a volunteer co-ordinator role and revive the volunteer programme early next year.
"This process has been delayed due to a predicted resurgence of newer strains of the Covid virus in the next six weeks."
Asked if any of the current vacancies could be filled by volunteers, Anstis said volunteers are welcome to apply if they are interested and have the necessary skills.
"Volunteers were not paid and tended to be people who had a few hours a week to contribute to the hospital, rather than people who were looking for permanent employment."
The Bay of Plenty Times reported on Monday there were 382 full-time equivalent vacancies at Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty. This included 177 nursing vacancies and 118 allied health worker, professional and technical staff vacancies.