Axing nurses 'dangerous move'

Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) would be making a "dangerous and misguided error" if frontline nursing staff were to lose their jobs as a result of possible cuts.

Last week a leaked memo to the board's older persons, mental health, and allied health services' leaders service manager Allison Stevenson, announced the potential for 35 job losses, across all disciplines.

It also outlined a "sinking lid" policy on all recruitment, saying no new positions would be created, unless they came with funding.

But College of Nurses executive director Professor Jenny Carryer said decreasing frontline nursing staff to save money was, "short sighted" saying patient care was already compromised.

"Registered nurses don't have time to think on their feet when turning people over as fast as that," she said. "They are barely coping now.

"It would be a dangerous and misguided error - a terrible mistake to cut frontline nursing staff."

Repeated research showed sufficient registered nurses prevented costly mistakes and deaths, reduced unplanned re-admissions and cut back on time consuming complaints.

Whereas job reductions put extra stress on the nursing workforce resulting in a high turnover of staff.

It was a lesson which should have been learned from failed health reforms introduced in the 1990s, Ms Carryer said.

"During that period when hospitals were trying to balance budgets, registered nurse staff numbers were cut significantly - when you chart that, there is a direct link between adverse affects to patients and nursing care.

"Through the 90s they didn't cope with it and in one of the largest hospitals in the country, 80 per cent of their nurses had been registered less than 18 months."

HBDHB chief executive Kevin Snee claimed last week's staff memo had been taken out of context and said nothing had been finalised or decided around job cuts.

"The quality and productivity improvements may impact on jobs, which could result in a very small number of job losses across the DHB, which has been estimated to be about 35."