Legislative Council Tuesday 15 September, 2020

Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

With regard the nursing staffing levels and hours at the North West Regional Hospital:

1. How many double shifts have been worked by nurses, RN’s and EN’s, in the last 3 months in each of the following areas DEM, ICU, OT, surgical ward and medical wards and Spencer Clinic;

2. How many overtime hours have been worked by nurses, RN’s and EN’s, in the last 3 months in each of the following areas DEM, ICU, OT, surgical ward and medical wards and Spencer Clinic;

3. How many unfilled positions for RN’s, EN’s and medical professionals are there at NWRH; and

4. What actions have been taken to fill these positions?

Answers:

1. The total for May-July 2020 is lower when compared to the same period in 2019, due in part to the NWRH COVID-19 response.

2. The total for May-July 2020 is lower when compared to the same period in 2019, due in part to the NWRH COVID-19 response.

3. and 4.

In such a large organisation considerable staff movement is anticipated, both permanent and fixed-term. Vacancies at the North West Regional Hospital are primarily fixed-term with small pockets of permanent vacancies.
As vacancies arise, they are advertised on the Tasmanian Government jobs website and other national recruitment platforms. Vacancies are also filled by increasing the hours of existing staff and through engagement of casual staff.

The Department has a policy position to fill Grade 3/4 nurse vacancies on a permanent basis where possible.
Agency nurses are employed by the Tasmanian Health Service to assist in reducing the pressures where there are fixed-term nursing vacancies, or difficulty in filling positions in specialist areas.

There are currently 28.72 FTE RN or Registered Midwife vacancies, 4.35 FTE EN vacancies, and 24.5 medical vacancies. This is in the context of more than 700 FTE who work at the hospital, and is at levels broadly consistent with previous years.

There has been a concerted effort across the THS to decrease the time to fill vacancies for nursing positions, with some success during 2019, although there has been impacts on recruitment more recently resulting from COVID-19.