Finance Minister Grant Robertson talks to Liam Dann about New Zealand's skills and labour shortages and immigration settings. Video / NZ Herald
The number of vacancies at Te Whatu Ora Lakes has quadrupled since 2019 as health worker shortages continue to plague the country.
Data obtained by the Rotorua Daily Post through an Official Information Act request showed that as of August 31, 172.73 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions were vacant at Te Whatu Ora Lakes, formerly Lakes District Health Board.
At the end of August 2019, there were 42 FTE vacancies in the district.
Currently, nurses are in the highest demand, with 72 FTE positions vacant, and there are 30 FTE vacancies for allied health professionals.
Te Whatu Ora Lakes interim district director Nick Saville-Wood. Photo / Andrew Warner
Te Whatu Ora Lakes interim district director Nick Saville-Wood said, in the official information response, the number of vacancies referred to FTE and the roles included in the information released to the Rotorua Daily Post were "at varying stages".
"So a mixture of currently advertised, shortlisting, interviewing and offers being made."
Saville-Wood said there were 70 jobs being advertised, as of September 16.
"We need to fill the vacancies. Te Whatu Ora Lakes is doing everything it can to recruit to all of these positions."
A New Zealand Nurses Organisation member and Te Whatu Ora Lakes nurse said she believed the need for nursing staff was greater than 72 FTE vacancies.
"Seventy nurses is just a drop in the bucket. It's not enough."
The nurse spoke with the Rotorua Daily Post on the condition of anonymity because her comments could identify her co-workers and she did not want to risk endangering anyone's employment.
She said even before the pandemic staffing levels did not allow for unexpected leave or absences.
"The system was already at tipping point then. Covid tipped it."
She said all departments were short, not only of nurses but of nurses with relevant experience, training and skill.
"If you're asked to work in a different ward than your usual one, your level of expertise in that area could be low.
"I can do some jobs in a different ward but I'd be like a new grad. My skill level is just another set of hands and it would be dangerous for me to take on a full patient load."
She said she often worked with no breaks and barely had time to drink water or go to the bathroom. She said she was also being "bombarded" with requests to fill in on her days off due to staff shortages.
"You could be at work every day of the week and do overtime and families suffer."
The woman said the only real solution was a proper investment. She suggested free nursing qualifications which bonded graduates to practice their profession in New Zealand for some time after their course.
"We need to grow our own nurses and convince them to stay."
She said that given her profession's current situation, she would not recommend becoming a nurse in New Zealand.
"I'd say only become a nurse if you're heading over to Australia. If I was younger, I'd go over."
Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand co-chair and Physiotherapy New Zealand chief executive Sandra Kirby. Photo / Supplied
Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand co-chairwoman and Physiotherapy New Zealand chief executive Sandra Kirby said vacancy rates were high across the country.
Kirby said allied health professionals leaving New Zealand to work overseas, immigration changes and an undervaluing of the allied health workforce were some factors that contributed to the situation.
"We know the gaps in staffing are adding stress to the existing workforce.
"Our greatest concern is the impact on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders due to lack of access to effective treatment."
Te Whatu Ora Lakes did not respond directly to comments made by the nurse and Kirby but acting interim district director Alan Wilson said there were national and international shortages of suitably qualified and experienced health care workers with midwives, nurses and anaesthetic technicians in particularly short supply.
"Across all areas of healthcare, the restriction of international recruitment due to closed borders made it more difficult for new staff to enter the country.
"Currently there is also an issue that there are significant numbers of staff who previously would have had overseas experience, now leaving with borders being opened."
Te Whatu Ora Lakes acting interim district director Alan Wilson. Photo / Andrew Warner
Wilson said traditionally nursing and midwifery had always been careers that allowed for international travel and short-term contracts.
"This was curtailed for the last three years but now with travel options open, people are taking the opportunity to experience something different to New Zealand."
Wilson said nursing and midwifery recruitment and retention were at the "forefront" of everyone's minds.
"We are engaged in national and local activities to encourage applicants of both qualified staff [and] to support the pipeline of staff into the future."
A Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand spokesperson said there were "a suite" of nationwide initiatives under way to grow and maintain the nursing workforce including the Return to Nursing Support Fund, the Nurse Practitioner Training Programme and the Real Nurses recruitment campaign, running from August to October.
"New Zealand also has in place a Voluntary Bonding Scheme, now run by Te Whatu Ora, encouraging newly qualified health professionals to work in the communities and specialities that need them most," the spokesperson said.
"The 2022 Voluntary Bonding Scheme saw its largest intake funded since 2009 after the decision was made to fund every single applicant."
The spokesperson said nurses made up almost three-quarters of the scheme's 2022 intake.
