Auckland (The NZ Today)
A growing crisis inside one of New Zealand’s busiest hospitals has been highlighted by more than 200 Middlemore Hospital healthcare workers, who say ongoing staffing pressures and overcrowding are putting both patients and frontline staff at risk.
In a letter shared with RNZ, staff from Middlemore Hospital said the emergency department had reached a point where immediate intervention was needed, describing the current situation as a “crisis”.
The concerns centre around what workers describe as chronic understaffing, rising demand, staff burnout and pressure on employees to continue working despite being unwell.
The warning comes after similar concerns were recently raised by emergency department staff at North Shore Hospital, where workers publicly highlighted pressures facing frontline healthcare services.
According to the letter reported by RNZ, Middlemore’s emergency department has regularly operated above its designed capacity, with staff claiming patient numbers have at times reached almost three times the department’s intended capacity.
Workers say the pressure has created an environment where healthcare professionals are exhausted and where maintaining safe care has become increasingly challenging.
One of the major concerns raised by staff is the alleged practice of encouraging sick employees to attend shifts.
The healthcare workers said employees who call in unwell should not feel pressured or made to feel responsible for covering workforce shortages.
The letter calls for the immediate recruitment of 40 additional nursing positions, which staff say have already been identified through the Care Capacity Demand Management process.
They are also asking Health New Zealand to introduce staffing levels that better reflect patient numbers and the complexity of cases being treated in the emergency department.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) said the public letter showed healthcare workers felt previous attempts to raise concerns internally had not resulted in sufficient action.
NZNO president Anne Daniels told RNZ that nurses should not be placed in a position where they feel forced to work while sick, and said workforce shortages needed urgent attention.
However, Health New Zealand said patient safety and staff wellbeing remained its priorities.
Counties Manukau group director of operations Vanessa Thornton said the organisation was reviewing the concerns raised by staff and engaging with clinical leaders, operational teams and staff representatives.
She said Health New Zealand did not expect unwell employees to come to work and managers were expected to support staff who needed sick leave.
The organisation acknowledged Middlemore’s emergency department had experienced significant pressure, particularly during winter, and said staffing requirements and service capacity were regularly reviewed.
Meanwhile, the latest concerns add to a long-running political debate around pressure on New Zealand’s health system, with emergency departments across the country facing challenges from increasing demand, workforce shortages and difficulties recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals.
The office of Health Minister Simeon Brown said the minister expected NZNO and Health New Zealand to work directly together to resolve concerns rather than communicating through the media.
Source: RNZ
