Picture: BRITTANY DENTON
SENIOR nurse Ngaire Buchanan has been appointed the region’s highest ranking health bureaucrat and will oversee five public hospitals across the South East for the next eight months.
Her appointment as Country Health SA regional director while Jayne Downs is on long service leave follows a turbulent year at the Mount Gambier Hospital as hospital management faced a barrage of claims about an ongoing staffing crisis and overstretched emergency department.
Ms Buchanan said she was made aware of a number of “challenges” at the hospital and highlighted staff recruitment and outdated infrastructure in the 20 year old building.
“This building is over 20 years old and would have been designed about 25 years ago,” Ms Buchanan said, speaking to The Border Watch during her first week in the role.
“Things have changed over that time – the way we do things, the way staff work and the length of stay has been reduced for many patients because we provide a very acute service.
“What I call the bricks and mortar of the hospital probably does not lend itself to what we do today.”
Ms Buchanan said an overhaul of the renal dialysis unit was a priority.
“There was certainly a case before me coming on board to get the renal dialysis unit upgraded and that will be a priority for me,” she said.
“I will chat with the team about how the case is progressing – I’m aware there has already been some fundraising.”
She said her next step would be to assess the “bricks and mortar” more generally.
“I will look at what we need to do to plan not for tomorrow but for the medium to long term,” Ms Buchanan said.
“There is a lot of good work going on here, we have upgraded the emergency department, inpatient services and dental services and just introduced the 24 hour service for stroke which is amazing.
“In any hospital setting, but particularly in a regional setting, recruitment is a challenge – that’s something we need to look at.”
Ms Buchanan said she would endeavour to create a positive work environment to improve staff retention.
“I’m quite pleased to see the retention rate in some areas – 56pc of our staff has been here longer than five years, 36pc longer than 10 years and 15pc of staff longer than 15 years,” she said.
“As well as focusing on why people do not stay, I’m equally interested in why they do.
“Talking to the staff it has become clear to me they are part of the community – they live and work here and I’m very conscious I do not have two distinct areas of staff and community, we are all one and need to work together.”
In her most recent role as chief operating officer at St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney, Ms Buchanan was responsible for strategic and operational leadership of clinical and non-clinical services
Previously she held several senior positions at the Auckland District Health Board in New Zealand.
“From my perspective this hospital has a really nice feel – there are always challenges in any industry and my stewardship will make sure we create a positive environment for our staff and their families,” she said.
“I will bring my experience from that metropolitan environment.”
