Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: ICU nurse stuck in South Africa unable to take up NZ job offer

By Anneke Smith for RNZ

A seasoned ICU nurse who has a job offer with the Tairāwhiti DHB is stuck in South Africa with no way of getting here.

The Government banned travel from nine southern African countries in late November to curb the potential spread of the Omicron variant.

Rena, an ICU nurse with 16 years' worth of experience in intensive and critical care, is working on the frontline of the pandemic in South Africa.

She is not a New Zealand citizen but has a New Zealand registration, a job offer at Tairāwhiti DHB and a visa lined up to work here but can't relocate because of the travel restrictions for very high risk countries.

Accent Health Recruitment's managing director Prudence Thomson says the restrictions are preventing some critical health workers getting through the border.

"We're desperate for her skills; she's very, very versatile to work in all specialities. We have a number of nurses coming into the DHBs to work in intensive care and she would be one of the best. Unfortunately, coming from South Africa she can't make plans to leave."

ICU nurses are one of the categories of healthcare workers who are able to use a dedicated Class Border Exception to enter the country to work.

Minister of Health Andrew Little says the latest figures show 3861 critical health workers have arrived in New Zealand since April last year.

These workers are eligible for a place in the 300 dedicated MIQ spots but of the slots available to 15 December, only 79 of the 300 spaces had been filled.

National's health spokesman Shame Reti says it is frustrating someone with Rena's skills qualifies to get into the country but can't relocate because of tight border controls.

"If we have that skill set ready to go out to Tairāwhiti with a small number of beds, goodness, we should be bending over backwards to do what we can do bring willing and mutually able parties together. How hard can this be?"

College of Critical Care Nurses chairwoman Tania Mitchell says there should be no barriers to more ICU nurses coming to New Zealand.

"New Zealand has got an ongoing shortage of nurses and critical care nurses and with Covid-19 and Omicron specifically we're seeing a really urgent need to have as many qualified critical care nurses as we can get into New Zealand."

Thomson says New Zealand risks losing nurses like Rena to other countries, if it doesn't carve a pathway for them to get here.

"What we don't want is for them to say well we can go to England and work there. We've worked so hard to get these nurses registered, to get them visas and to get them ready for relocation. At this stage it's very frustrating not being able to get them into New Zealand from South Africa."

She estimates Accent alone has between 20 and 30 medical professionals in South Africa who have job offers - or are ready to interview for jobs - but can't leave.

Health Minister Andrew Little said the Government was currently reviewing the very high risk country list and will have more to say once any decisions have been made.