'People could die waiting': Overworked nurses on ED wait times

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

The government says a Health NZ hiring freeze does not affect frontline medical staff, but nurses say this is not true.

Nurses in Thames Hospital told Stuff it needs 20 more ED nurses but they’ve been told the roles can’t be advertised.

Hospitals across the country have warned communities of long wait times, unless it’s ‘life and limb’, and ED staff say lives are at risk.

Long wait times that put patients’ lives at risk are a result of Health New Zealand not hiring enough ED staff, nurses say.

“It’s a dangerous situation for patients, where people who would normally be triaged as urgent, even in renal failure or heart issues, are having to wait because we simply don’t have enough people,” Thames ED nurse Donna Serjeant told Stuff.

Thames Hospital is 20 full time nurses short, says Serjeant - a figure the nursing union says is based on a Care Capacity Demand Management programme calculation and would boost staff numbers by about 50%.

Although the government has denied a hiring freeze of clinical staff, Serjeant says “we’ve been told they can’t advertise for staff”.

Health NZ has said recruitment has now been paused on all hospital roles that are not patient-facing and all public health roles that are not community-facing as part of cost cutting.

“But it is inevitable that this recruitment freeze will impact frontline services,” says Serjeant, a NZ Nurses Organisation delegate. “Thames is an example that this freeze has overflowed into the frontline.”

The nurses urged the local Coromandel community to join them in a picket outside the hospital on July 30, to voice their frustrations at understaffing and increased workloads.

As well as endangering patients with longer wait times, understaffing is leading to burnout, Serjeant said.

The hospital is also seeing more patients as some 24-hour ED services are closing at 5pm, or GP practices closing altogether, because they don’t have staff available.

Existing nurses are working on days off and doing overtime, she says.

“People aren’t getting the care they need in the community and the current situation is really difficult for nurses.”

They want to do a good job but feel they can’t under the conditions, she said.

The nurses were calling on the government “to address the staffing problem” by “funding proper patient care.”

Overstretched emergency departments are a nationwide issue, with hospitals telling their communities not to come if possible.

One recent patient of Tauranga Hospital said she waited 11 hours to be told she still wasn’t close to being seen - so she left.

Shontelle, who only wanted to use her first name, said she had shortness of breath and was struggling to breathe, and a painful burning sensation in her chest.

“A man came in bleeding from a gas explosion and his face was all cut - but he was still waiting after nine hours.”

Charlene Colvin told Stuff she was shocked by her experience in Waikato Hospital, calling it “chaotic, pandemic, third world country type stuff”.

“I’ve been in and out of this hospital over the past 34 years and what I am witnessing right now is absolutely heartbreaking…the staff are so stressed and over worked they are forgetting basic rules of healthcare and people’s lives are being put at risk.“

Worried doctors in the Far North revealed in a leaked memo this week they fear people are dying as a direct result of critical workforce shortages in hospitals, including Dargaville Hospital where on-site doctors have been replaced by a telehealth service overnight.

On Monday, Health NZ-Waitematā, which serves the largest population in the country - more than 630,000 - warned people if it wasn’t “life or limb threatening” they would face long wait times at the “very busy” North Shore Hospital emergency department.

On July 21, Christchurch hospital said it was very busy.

The following day, Waikato Hospital said it was experiencing “high demand…very busy” and that patients would experience longer than usual waiting times.

Tauranga and Whakatāne hospital also said they were experiencing high demand, and suggested people seek help at GPs or Telehealth.

Local communities pushed back on social media, saying while they understood it was not the staff’s fault, they couldn’t afford fees of up to $150 at a medical centre, or wait almost three weeks to get an appointment.

Health New Zealand national director, hospital and specialist services, Fionnagh Dougan said hospitals were seeing the usual increase in respiratory illnesses.

“Unfortunately, during periods of high ED demand, some patients who do not require urgent care may face prolonged wait times.”

“The safety and wellbeing of our patients who require hospital care remains our priority. The public can be assured that if they or their loved ones need urgent hospital-level care, they will receive it.”

We are encouraging people to get their flu and Covid-19 vaccines to help protect themselves and their whānau.

Health NZ was “determined to maintain momentum in recruiting key clinical workforces”, she said, but acknowledged there were nursing gaps to fill.

“Overall, we have exceeded our early expectations in recruitment across different professions. This includes more nurses employed by our hospitals now than ever before, with nearly 30,000 full time equivalent (FTE) nurses employed by Health NZ across the country – an overall increase of 2900 over the past year. That said, we acknowledge that there are still some nursing gaps, particularly in specialities such as mental health and addictions, and critical care, and in some geographical areas.”

A pause on recruitment for non-frontline roles remains in place while Health NZ realign budgets, she said.

“Clinical recruitment continues, led by regional leaders working within region and district budget parameters.”