Overstaffed hospital wants to avoid cuts

Managers at Waikato Hospital have admitted it has too many employees.

Dr Grant Howard told the Health Waikato advisory committee on Wednesday that the hospital spent at least $3 million extra on staff than planned in February.

He said no reductions were planned, but better ways would be sought to allocate staff across shifts and departments.

"Waikato Hospital has too many staff, including nursing staff. This may seem like a controversial statement but it is supported by reasonable evidence," Dr Howard told the committee.

"The key initiative in the coming months will be to improve operational and capacity planning for the management and deployment of nursing and other staff for patient benefit."

Dr Howard told staff yesterday that he understood many of them would be unhappy with his view, but said he was aware many of them felt under pressure at work.

"Until we are better organised we will always feel as if we do not have enough staff. I take responsibility for getting us to a better place, but I will need your help to do so.

"We are not considering redundancy or staff reduction. We have adopted an investment and growth strategy."

A hospital spokeswoman said the issue was partly about staff allocation, as some departments and shifts might have too many staff at one time and others not enough.

About 4300 people work at the hospital.

- NZPA