The review related to concerns raised by clinicians regarding workplace culture, communication, working relationships, models of care, and the impacts of workforce shortages.
More than 30 staff were interviewed as part of the review, he said.
“We have taken this review very seriously and are committed to improving the Southland MHAIDS for our staff, patients, and their whānau.
“We acknowledge there have been many challenges for this service for several years, in particular the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing staff vacancies across the health care system and the effects these have had on our staff.”
The review would not be released publically at this stage, Te Whatu Ora said.
Brown said the leadership team was “committed” to acting quickly to improve staff well-being and relationships within the service and the wider MHAID community.
“Our senior leadership team have met with staff to discuss the review and we have a committed process in place to move forward. We are actively recruiting for senior medical officers and have recently hired a nurse consultant.
“We are committed to a governance structure that enables us to work together in an open and transparent way that provides opportunities for staff to participate in solutions to improve service delivery. We are in a process of changing the leadership model across MHAIDs to a more collaborative model with a collective approach to support our workforce.”
Brown said the leadership team was “very grateful” for the staff’s “hard work, commitment, and dedication.
“We know it has been a very tough time for our staff and we want to acknowledge this. We appreciate staff raising their concerns and taking part in this review process.”
Brown said there was no plan for the inpatient facility to close, and added the region was no different than the rest of the country with shortages in the healthcare workforce.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists chief executive Sarah Dalton told the Herald the union had raised its concerns directly with management at Te Whatu Ora Southern, including the chief medical officer and regional director.
“Our concerns are the low staffing levels and what we perceive to be a culture that is not supportive of the doctors to do the work that they are supposed to be doing with patients, we are also concerned that why the staffing shortages and failure to keep tabs on what’s going on in that service by the district has led to a difficult working environment for many staff.”
Dalton said she was not qualified to make an assessment on the safety of the service, but said its members were not being supported “either in the number of staff or in the way service is being run to ensure that staff are able to make best decisions for patient care or that there will be even sufficient staff on to support those people,” she said.
“I would say we are concerned about the safety of the service, both from a staffing perspective and for a patient wellbeing perspective currently.”
Dalton said the attention to the issue being paid by the district leadership team, who recently met with staff, was a “really good first step.
“I guess the test is what actions they take as a result of that around putting a supportive leadership structure in place and making sure that to the best of their abilities staff are resourced up.”
She was aware of “at least two” other services across the country with similar issues.
“Not being supported by management and long-term understaffing and just a complete failure of the system both under the DHB system and under Te Whatu Ora to make any meaningful inroads into the distress that that is causing to both staff and patients, but particularly staff from our point of view as the union.”
Sam Sherwood is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers crime. He is a senior journalist who joined the Herald in 2022, and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
