Gisborne Hospital ‘unsafe’: staffing levels, safety issues raising concerns

Bed numbers at Gisborne Hospital should be reduced for patient and staff safety, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the assocation of Salaried Medical Specialists. File picture by Liam Clayton

The country’s senior doctors are concerned about Gisborne Hospital being unsafe.

“But it’s not alone in New Zealand.”

That is the view of Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) executive director Sarah Dalton who travelled to Gisborne to “fully support” the nurses of Ward 5 as they rallied outside the hospital during their one-hour strike on Wednesday.

The nurses say they are concerned about staffing levels and associated safety issues for staff and patients and have been seeking to have ward beds reduced from 25 to 20 since last year.

The possible reduction of bed numbers should be discussed in “honest conversations” about the country’s shortage of nurses, said Ms Dalton.

Everybody knows the country is short of nurses, but creative solutions are available, she says.

Bed numbers could be reduced.

“I know that’s a terrible thing for the people of Gisborne to hear,” said Ms Dalton.

“But if there simply aren’t enough nurses to staff a ward of 25 beds, drop it to 20 or 15 beds.”

Ms Dalton said hospitals in South Australia had ratios in place to establish bed numbers.

“Potentially that is something we’ll have to look to going to.

“Effectively that means rationing care which is not something any community wants to hear.

“But I think we have to have more honest conversations about the pressures our hospital staff are facing.

“It’s all very well to try to give best care to patients, but if there simply aren’t enough people to do it, there are going to be mistakes.

“It will be a matter of nurses and doctors trying to make the least bad choice around caring for patients rather than the obvious best choice.”

There were also ways of offering nurses practical support, Ms Dalton said.

“Are they being fed? Do they have transport solutions to and from work? Are there childcare issues? Were there any tasks that could be done safely by non-nursing staff?”

Ms Dalton said the shortage of nursing staff in Ward 5 flowed through to the rest of Gisborne Hospital.

“There are constant attempts to grab staff from other parts of the hospital.

Neonatal nurse specialists were being asked to work in Ward 5, an acute adult medical ward.

“It’s entirely inappropriate, It’s not safe for staff, it’s not safe for patients.

“It’s causing real harm to staff, psychosocial harm and also physical harm.

Examples were given in the Employment Court of nurses being injured when attempting to move patients without an appropriate number of nurses being available, she said.

Wednesday’s action only went ahead after Te Whatu Ora failed in the Employment Court to stop the strike with an injunction.