Northern Beaches Hospital: Nurses say they want to quit because it’s like working in a ‘war zone’
First the CEO quit just two days into her job. Now nurses say they are so stressed they are worried about making mistakes and are considering quitting their jobs at the new $600m state-of-the-art Northern Beaches Hospital.
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FIRST the CEO quit just two days into her job. Now nurses say they are so stressed they are worried about making mistakes and are considering quitting their jobs at the new $600m state-of-the-art Northern Beaches Hospital.
Nurses who met with union officials at Northern Beaches Hospital this week say their working conditions are so bad they are worried they might make a mistake.
They have reported to union bosses that they dread going to work and are in fear of losing their registration.
Several said they were thinking of quitting.
One nurse who spoke on condition of anonymity said working at the hospital was like being in a “war zone” with staff constantly rushing around to different wards desperately trying to find drugs and supplies and no time for meal breaks.
“We are all exhausted,” she said.
Brett Holmes, General Secretary, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association said members were worried their working conditions could put lives and their jobs at risk.
“Understaffing can lead to mistakes being made, overlooking deteriorating patients, not doing observations or leaving patients unattended and nurses are held responsible for mistakes or misjudgements that lead to death or injury to patients or it can be as simple as not talking to a patient in a professional manner,” he said.
The union met with staff on Wednesday and were told the biggest issue was still the lack of all stock critical and non-critical.
They said it was constantly running out everywhere, every day, making their jobs ridiculously difficult and time consuming.
This is despite Healthscope saying two weeks ago that they were getting on top of the problem and had upped supply orders to twice a day.
The union said at Wednesday’s meeting it also heard concerns around the skill mix of staff with too many inexperienced agency nurses, nursing assistants and casual staff, gaps in the roster and issues over staff ratios.
Members also reported that within a few days of opening Healthscope was constantly approving nurses and midwives to work through their breaks and overtime.
Other complaints include:
•Problems with switchboard
•Ongoing system failures including not being able to access records and ineffective swipe cards
•No time for proper education with nurses and midwives training each other to use vital equipment by trial and error while they are meant to be looking after patients
Other concerns that came back from a union survey of nurses and midwives conducted last week was the design of the wards with staff complaining about having no direct line of sight of patients, as well as not always being able to hear nurse alarms if the doors are closed.
The 488-bed hospital has been plagued with issues including staff shortages since it opened on October 30.
Amid the growing scandal CEO Deborah Latta resigned two days after the official opening on Monday.
But it’s not just nurses and midwives that are unhappy.
Around 150 senior doctors also met on Wednesday night where they passed a vote of no confidence in the Medical Director of the Northern Beaches Hospital Louise Messara.
According to a source not one doctor voted yes.
The Medical Staff Council convened the meeting over concerns of patient safety.
Ms Messara was absent from the meeting.
Union officials as well as Healthscope chief medical officer Victoria Atkinson was there and she apologised to doctors.
Earlier this week anaesthetists also threatened to stop doing elective surgeries over patient safety this week if proper systems were not put in place, but have since agreed to hold off after a positive meeting with Ms Atkinson.
A theatre insider told the Manly Daily “we’re pushing body after body through the operating theatres, it’s ridiculous.”
Junior doctors also threatened industrial action last week.
A spokesman for Healthscope said opening a facility of this size and complexity is a huge operation and does come with challenges.
“As you would expect, in the early stages of opening a brand new hospital it is inevitable that not everything goes to plan as new systems and processes are implemented,” said the spokesman.
“We thank our incredible staff for their commitment to our patients in a challenging transition from multiple hospital backgrounds to our new Northern Beaches Hospital.
“We are working through the supply issues being experienced. New stock is coming in every day with additional resources dedicated to improving these processes.”
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