Nurses concerned patients may be at risk during exodus of senior nurses in emergency department

The RAH emergency department is operating with less than half the required senior staff on some nights. “Junior staff are being put in positions that experienced nurses would be baulking at,” one nurse said.

• Dangerous lack of funding and resources for ambulance services

South Australia’s largest and busiest emergency department is struggling to meet the needs of patients due to a lack of senior nurses, a leaked memo reveals.

Royal Adelaide Hospital emergency department nurse manager Christine Lee’s memo shows that on some days and nights, fewer than half of senior staff required for shifts are available to be rostered.

Another senior nurse says a litany of problems, including internal ramping, record low staff morale and an exodus of senior nurses is compromising patient safety.

The “new roster” memo, obtained by the Sunday Mail, was sent to nursing staff on Friday afternoon. Ms Lee writes the roster is “one of the most difficult I have had to do” and outlines concerns including:

MORE than 20 staff are on secondments.

THERE is not enough staff to “backfill” the secondments.

THE process to recruit replacement staff is too slow.

THERE are only four senior nurses on some night shifts and three senior nurses on early shifts when ideally there would be 10.

“Most of the staff on secondment are senior, which leaves the junior staff to step up to many roles that may challenge them,” Ms Lee says.

“If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed please speak to a senior member of staff and we will try to change your allocations so you get a bit of a break from all the high-pressure roles.

“It may only be a day or so but we need to know.

“You should not have to come to work every day being anxious about where you are going to work.”

Outside the emergency department at the RAH. A leaked memo shows a staffing shortage. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

Ms Lee urges nurses to avoid taking sick leave during the upcoming school holidays. A senior nurse who spoke to the Sunday Mail on the condition of anonymity said “patient safety is at risk”.

“Junior staff are being put in positions that experienced nurses would be baulking at,” the nurse said.

“When nurses are under that much pressure there are going to be things that are missed.

“We got through the peak of COVID but we are left with fewer resources and nurses.”

A Royal Adelaide Hospital spokeswoman, via a statement from the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, said staffing levels in the hospital’s emergency department were in line with the current nurse enterprise bargaining agreement.

“Due to COVID-19, we have had a number of staff that have been seconded to work in other areas or travel to Victoria to help with the pandemic efforts there,” the statement said.

“We always ensure that our frontline staff are equipped with the appropriate skill-set relevant to their area and we are working hard to backfill any vacant positions.

“As always, we thank our staff for their ongoing hard work and dedication to patient care.”

Earlier this month, elective surgeries were postponed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital as the health system grappled with a surge in demand at their respective emergency departments.