Grafton
Base Hospital
is a Level
3/4 rural
community hospital with an est. 68
bed inpatient capacity which provides
acute medical, surgical, orthopaedic, paediatric,
anaesthetic, geriatric, obstetric and maternity, intensive and
critical care, renal, oncology, palliative care, emergency, some
specialist outpatient services and day surgery facilities. Maclean
District Hospital is
a Level 3 rural community hospital with
an
est.
<43 inpatient bed capacity, an inpatient Rehabilitation Unit and a Day Surgery Unit.
Clarence
Valley Independent,
14 June 2023:
Between
Grafton and Maclean Hospitals another 40 nurses are needed to provide
adequate staffing levels say the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association
as the Local Health District tries to fill 180 nursing vacancies
across the region.
NSW
Nurses and Midwives Association Clarence Valley branch secretary Thea
Koval said without agency nursing staff being called in, who are paid
significantly more than NSW Health nurses, Maclean and Grafton
hospitals would struggle to operate.
“Without
agency nursing staff our hospitals would not be able to be run with
the nurses employed only by NSW Health,” she said.
“Without
that external agency support we would be completely drowning, there
just would not be enough staff.”
Ms
Koval said both Grafton and Maclean hospitals are continuing to
experience increasing numbers of patients presenting to the emergency
department ED, which leads to increasing wait times until they are
treated.
This
combined with the lack of nursing staff, Ms Koval said is leading to
a decline in patient care.
“We
are constantly and have been for the last 10 years saying that the
amount of staff we have is not enough to provide the care we are
expected to our patients,” she said.
“That
can range anywhere from not being able to provide a shower, so
there’s patients going without showers on the wards, to people
waiting excessive amounts of time in ED to be seen by a nurse, or
once they’re seen by a nurse waiting for pain relief, waiting to be
helped to the toilet or delays in getting antibiotics.”
Ms
Koval said the frustrating lack of staff led to nurses striking four
times last year.
“We
raise the issue through to our managers, we try and raise it with the
Ministry of Health and so far, nothing has changed,” she said.
“This
new government has promised to introduce the ratio system, which they
termed ‘safe staffing’ but that hasn’t happened yet.”
Ms
Koval said the planned ratios are one nurse to three patients in ED,
with a dedicated resuscitation nurse, a dedicated triage nurse and a
dedicated team leader on all shifts.
“That
would make a massive difference to Grafton and Maclean Hospitals,
particularly on our night shifts when our staffing drops from seven
nurses to three nurses, and more often than not these days the ED is
full of patients,” she said.
As
Queensland Health have implemented nurse to patient ratios, where
nurses experience better conditions and earn $10 an hour more than in
NSW, Ms Koval said a number of local nurses have left to work over
the border.
As
a result, the Northern NSW Local Health District has confirmed there
are 180 full time equivalent nursing vacancies across the region.
“Grafton
and Maclean hospitals have approximately 40 of those vacancies,” Ms
Koval said.
“That
is just to make it back up to what the government currently considers
as reasonable staffing levels…and when this new ‘safe staffing’
comes in as promised, that level of vacancies will increase.”
Ms
Koval said staff shortages extend to the number of local doctors, as
two surgeons have recently left Grafton hospital without being
replaced and locums are regularly called in to fill positions in
Grafton and Maclean hospitals.
“It’s
a very large expense (for locums) but it’s what you have to do
otherwise you don’t have medical coverage,” she said……
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the full article here.
