'Unsafe levels' of midwives at city hospital

Midwife numbers in the maternity ward at Auckland City Hospital are dipping to "unsafe levels" at times, according to official papers.

Midwives - and nurses - are in short supply in many parts of the country.

A report to yesterday's Auckland District Health Board hospital advisory committee meeting said the Nurses Organisation had recently expressed concerns "regarding unsafe staffing in maternity services, particularly on the night shift".

"These concerns are shared by the Women's Health team, who have been working on a number of recruitment and retention strategies for midwives over the past year."

The report's author, midwifery leader Ann Yates, is in Britain with four other board staff at a health employment expo trying to lure health workers, including midwives, to Auckland.

Director of nursing Taima Campbell was last night unsure of the extent of midwife vacancies as she was away from her office, but she said shortages had eased in the nursing field, which now had "no major hot-spots".

She said "unsafe" meant half or three-quarters the desired number of midwives were on duty.

"If you can't find back-fill [temporary staff] because we don't have a very good supply of midwives on tap through the bureau you are in an awkward position."

Existing staff were asked to do double shifts to cover absences or health care assistants or other health workers filled in, Ms Campbell said.

The report said the board had more difficulty retaining midwives than hiring them.

The board's strategies to hire and retain midwives include mentoring new graduates, addressing the "workplace culture", improved training, using nurses to do some of the nursing work previously done by midwives in the maternity service, and investigating with Auckland University of Technology fast-track training for midwives returning after a break.