April 24, 2024
Staff influx should ease nurse rosters
Health New Zealand chief executive Margie Apa is defending a crack down on on staff leave and shift arrangements as standard operational procedures.
Last week Te Whatu Ora informed health unions it was clamping down on annual and sick leave, extra staff, penal payments and roster arrangements as part of its budget drive.
Ms Apa says 2,493 full-time nurses have joined over the past year in a post-Covid influx.
“And it’s a reminder because we have seen an improvement in permanent staffing being hired and so we expect that managers are using those resources to the best of their ability,” she says.
Margie Apa says there are still staff shortages in mental health, emergency departments and critical care units where more specialist skills are needed.