The Lakes District Health Board's clinical workforce was down 8.1 per cent last Monday. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Lakes District Health Board's clinical workforce was down 8.1 per cent last Monday. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Lakes District Health Board is contending with staff shortages due to Covid-19 with more than 8 per cent of its clinical workforce away on one day last week.
However, recruitment remains "a top priority" for the board and it has welcomed 16 nurses to Rotorua Hospital after the closureof the city's managed isolation facilities.
On March 21, 8.1 per cent of the DHBs clinical workforce was away due to Covid. This included doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. On the same day, 7.2 per cent of the board's total workforce was away due to Covid.
Lakes District Health Board chief operating officer Alan Wilson said all staff were working hard to continue providing "quality health services".
Earlier this month the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment confirmed the Ibis and Rydges hotels had ceased as MIQ facilities.
Wilson said everyone was supporting each other to maintain services.
Administration staff were supporting wards by "backfilling" ward clerks during lunch breaks. This reduced the amount of work nurses needed to pick up over that period.
Senior nursing staff were also increasingly helping with patient care delivery on wards and shifts, he said.
But recruitment remained "a top priority" for the board.
"New Zealand is fortunate that this outbreak has happened at this time of year - rather than in winter.
"We are also fortunate in that many staff have agreed to take leave outside this period to support their colleagues and maintain safe services for the community."
The board acknowledged the "outstanding commitment" of health sector workers to communities, patients and colleagues.
The board had started "staff wellness initiatives" such as providing free fruit and healthy snacks for staff to acknowledge the impact Covid has had on staff fatigue, stress levels and the amount of work everyone was doing, Wilson said.
The Ibis hotel in Rotorua has ceased to be an MIQ facility. Photo / Andrew Warner
From March 14, the board had reduced elective theatres from four to three per day on weekdays.
"This is being reviewed each week and depending on staff sickness and the number of patients we have in hospital, we are keen to return to full surgery lists when that is possible."
Patients booked for surgery were made aware their surgery may need to be cancelled "at short notice".
While inconvenient, most patients understood the pressure hospitals were operating under, he said.
"Lakes District Health Board hospitals are working hard to avoid waiting lists building up as part of our commitment to the community we serve, and to make effective use of all our available resources."
