Health Minister Andrew Little said the Bay of Plenty DHB was "under pressure". Photo / NZME
Health Minister Andrew Little said the Bay of Plenty DHB was "under pressure". Photo / NZME
Health Minister Andrew Little says the Bay of Plenty District Health Board is under "particular pressure" in relation to staffing levels.
Little was asked if nurses were working at unsafe levels on Tuesday and his response comes as the Government approved funding for a pay equity claim for nurses, with nurses, DHBs and the Ministry of Health urged to start negotiations straight away.
Tauranga and Whakatāne Hospital had been under "particular pressure", Little said.
"Some hospitals have been under particular pressure, Capital and Coast is one of them and Bay of Plenty is one too and Waikato is another, partly because of the IT outage.
"But not every hospital has been under the same level of pressure."
Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Pete Chandler said Tauranga and Whakatāne Hospitals had been under "significant pressure".
"We have worked to ease this pressure, but our focus is always on ensuring the safety of our patients and our staff.
"We have been clear about mounting pressure on our services over the last two to three years. However, the specific factors that have added to this over recent months have significantly increased pressure on the whole Bay of Plenty health system."
Chandler said there were multiple components to why the DHB was in this position, including the recent RSV outbreaks and the normal surge in winter illness.
"Indications are that our population is now increasing by around 10,000 people a year, which is a very significant level of growth. As a result, we are rapidly advancing plans for capacity increase ready for Health New Zealand to progress when the DHB is disestablished next year.
"Our population size and demographics is fast approaching that of tertiary DHBs with a large geographical area and high needs population."
Chandler said demand on services had risen notably since last year plus an increase in hospital admissions of older people with complex, multiple care needs.
Constraints on capacity at general practice and a reduced number of healthcare workers in the employment market were also contributing to the pressure, he said.
The Bay of Plenty Times earlier reported that DHBs were under pressure as they prepare for nurses striking - but it was the same pressure facing nurses each and every shift, a Bay of Plenty nurse claimed.
Rebekah Opie said at the time, nurses were regularly working shifts that were bordering on "unsafe".
Nurses were expected to strike this Thursday after rejecting an almost $1 billion offer in the last round of negotiations. It was to address pay and workforce issues, a spokesman for collective DHBs said.
As a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, nurses have postponed the industrial action.
On the strikes, Little said the priority issue for the DHBs and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation was the safety of patients.
"I accept the DHBs and the NZNO have been working very hard to prepare for any industrial action this Thursday."
Little would not be pushed on how much Cabinet had authorised for the pay equity, but it would be worth "hundreds of millions of dollars a year".
Bay of Plenty registered nurse Rebekah Opie. Photo / George Novak
The pay equity component of the nurses' pay deal is separate to the increases to the collective agreement, he said, and had proven more complicated than expected.
The Cabinet decision had given the green light to start those pay equity negotiations in earnest.
He said it would be the most substantial pay equity claim in New Zealand so far, and urged nurses to start negotiating.
"Cabinet now knows and is braced for a significant sum of money that will go towards meeting this ambition," Little said.
He did not know if it would impact on the likelihood of the nurses going ahead with their strikes, saying the pay equity claim and the collective agreement pay increases and negotiations over staffing and working conditions were two separate negotiations.
After the last rejection, Little issued a strong statement in response, while in a rare move he also released the full details of the pay offer, which is still part of negotiations.
