MOUNT Gambier Hospital continues to be embroiled in staffing resource issues with a key medical workers union claiming it has a shortfall of 10 nurses per week in the medical wards.
It is understood the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) SA and Country Health SA are at a stand-off on the issue.
With the health department yet to budge on the issue, the federation will meet with its Mount Gambier members in coming weeks to canvass the issue and seek feedback from nurses.
The union’s push follows a joint staffing probe into nursing numbers at the public health facility, which is separate to the independent review into the emergency department.
Country Health SA regional director Jayne Downs yesterday rejected claims the hospital needed more nurses.
“We have more than 300 nurses caring for patients in Mount Gambier Hospital and while we understand the ANMF would like even more nurses, we believe we have the right number of nursing staff who provide high quality and safe care to the community,” Ms Downs said.
“Each of our wards are staffed appropriately in line with the Nursing Midwifery Enterprise Agreement and while we don’t believe there is a shortfall of nurses, we will, as always, work with the ANMF to understand any concerns they may have.”
But nurses federation executive officer Elizabeth Dabars has warned the shortfall was impacting on staff workloads and was compromising patient safety.
“The Mount Gambier Hospital needs more nurses, but it is not recruiting,” Ms Dabars said yesterday.
“The health department is claiming no additional staff are required – this issue should not be based on money, but on patient needs.”
She said the lack of staff was fuelling heavier workloads for nurses, who were being put under strain.
“This is a significant issue, it is having an impact on workloads and their duty of care,” she said.
Ms Dabars called for health authorities to begin recruiting immediately to meet the shortfall, which she described as serious.
“We don’t take these reviews for the sake of it – the workload of nursing staff is significant and becoming more intense,” she said.
“Nurses are having to do more work with existing resources, which is extremely stressful for staff trying to meet their professional obligations.”
While there were existing staff requirements set out in the enterprise bargaining agreement, she said the 10 additional nurses per week needed was above that ratio.
“We already have under-staffing with the existing agreement, this is on top of that,” the federation executive warned.
Ms Dabars said hospital management needed to be upfront to the community if these staffing shortfalls were being driven by budgetary restraints.
“They need to declare that to the community. If the hospital keeps taking more patients, then it needs to be provided with appropriate staff,” she said.
“Patient-staff ratios should always be above budgetary requirements. If the quality of care is being compromised, then this is not right for the community.”
