Royal Hobart Hospital’s woes laid bare in ‘alarming’ letter sent to political leaders amid state election campaign

Working 18-hour shifts has “almost become the norm” at Tasmania’s largest hospital, and a nurse has warned the chronic shortages of staff and beds are only getting worse.

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OVERWORKED nurses at the Royal Hobart Hospital are routinely toiling through double shifts of 18 hours, contributing to burnout, stress and sickness, says a senior manager with decades of experience at the hospital.

After-hours nurse unit manager James Lloyd, a representative of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and a long-serving worker at the hospital in a tenure spanning 30 years, said the issue was “extremely common” and was getting worse.

Mr Lloyd’s insight comes after the Mercury revealed another nurse at the hospital had written to political leaders about chronic shortages of staff and beds and other woes at the hospital, urging action amid the state election campaign. (See the story below)

And further revelations by the ANMF have indicated there were 900 shifts in the projected April roster at the hospital not filled.

Mr Lloyd said in many cases, nurses would start work at 2pm, only to be asked to cover shortfalls and if they agreed, working through to 8am the next day.

“By the time they can go home, that person has been awake for 24 hours and they’ve been working for 18 hours, then they have to hop in their car and drive home,” he said.

“This has almost become the norm. I don’t blame the management of the hospital, I think it’s higher than that.

“It’s like the government is blind to it. They just don’t want to deal with it. It just costs too much money.”

Registered nurse James Lloyd says 18-hour shifts at the RHH have “almost become the norm”. Picture: Chris Kidd

A Liberal Party spokesman said health authorities would work with staff and unions to put downward pressure on overtime and double shifts.

But Mr Lloyd said staff felt as if they were obliged to cover the shortfall when they were asked to work a longer shift.

“They know if they go home, their colleagues who they know and they socialise with are going to be screwed,” he said.

“Recently, I had to find 22 staff to cover a Sunday night duty. It’s down to the goodwill of staff.

“Nurses aren’t quitters. Nurses are dedicated individuals who won’t leave the bedside if someone is going to suffer because of that.”

But Mr Lloyd said that came with consequences.

“That goodwill has been burnt up because people getting constantly fatigued,” he said.

“When you’re doing double shifts all the time, you end up getting sick anyway because your immune system is under stress.”

With ongoing bed block and capacity issues at the hospital, he said he knew of workers in the intensive care unit who have quit after being overwhelmed by the pressure, while senior staff in the emergency department had stepped down due to the pressure of running it.

ANMF Tasmania secretary Emily Shepherd says no one is paying enough attention to the staffing crisis. Picture: Chris Kidd

ANMF Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd has called for more attention to be paid to the health system during the election campaign.

“No one, even the current government, are paying enough attention to the solutions required to the staffing crisis,’’ she said.

The Liberal Party spokesman said the party had implemented a recruitment planning unit to attract and retain more health staff, a commitment from the 2018 election.

“Tasmania has the highest rate of FTE (full-time equivalent) public hospital staff of any state in Australia,” he said.

“We acknowledge and thank our local nursing workforce for their efforts supporting crucial COVID-19-related clinics and other operations.”

Labor Leader Rebecca White, who received the letter from the RHH nurse, said it was “heartbreaking” that staff had been placed in an “impossible position”.

“My commitment is to address this horrific situation under a majority Labor Government and put a stop to this crisis once and for all,” she said.

Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said the nurse’s insight was “alarming” but not surprising, saying the Liberals had underfunded health.

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Nurse’s plea for action on hospital woes

A NURSE at Tasmania’s largest hospital has written an impassioned plea to political leaders about chronic shortages of staff and beds, urging action amid the state election campaign.

Writing to Opposition Leader Rebecca White and Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor along with media outlets including the Mercury, the nurse of 25 years said staffing deficits affected all areas of the Royal Hobart Hospital.

It comes as the nurses’ union argues workers had been “neglected and overlooked” and not enough attention had been given to health so far this election campaign.

In a damning assessment of Tasmania’s health system, the nurse said staff were frequently asked to work double shifts in excess of 18 hours, putting them in a difficult position.

“By saying no to these daily requests they feel they are letting not only their colleagues down but also denying care to those patients in those critical care areas if there are not enough staff to care for them,” the nurse wrote.

“Conversely by saying yes, the staff know they are putting themselves at risk of fatigue which can impact patient care and safety.”

The nurse said cubicles in the emergency department had to be closed when there was no one to safely staff them.

The Royal Hobart Hospital.

They said bed shortages were so dire that up to eight patients in areas such as the intensive care unit were waiting for beds on a ward daily.

The nurse argued the system was “at breaking point”, questioning how it would cope if an outbreak of COVID was to occur.

“Tasmanians deserve better, our patients deserve better, our healthcare workers deserve better,” the nurse said.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd said problems at the RHH were getting worse.

“The issues at the RHH have recently become much worse, I would say critical with 900 shifts in the projected April roster not filled,” she said.

“They will end up largely being covered by nurses and midwives working 18.5 (hour) double shifts.”

Ms Shepherd argued there had not been enough attention paid to health in the election campaign so far.

Ms White said it was “heartbreaking” nurses and other medical staff had been placed in an “impossible position”.

“All Tasmanians should read this first-hand account of what is going on in the health system to understand how the Liberals have pushed the hospital system beyond breaking point,” she said.

“My commitment is to address this horrific situation under a majority Labor government and put a stop to this crisis once and for all.”

Ambulances ramped at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Greens’ health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said the nurse’s insight was “alarming” but not surprising, pointing the finger at the Liberals for underfunding the health system.

“Thousands more people are waiting in pain for elective surgery, ambulance response times are the worst in the nation, and hospitals are at breaking point,” she said.

“Every day staff are working themselves into the ground just to make sure things don’t fall apart. They’re being let down by a government that has quite simply refused to give the health system the support it needs.”

A Liberal Party spokesman said more than 390 additional full-time equivalent nurses had been employed at the RHH since 2014.

“We will continue to monitor workloads and work constructively with our staff and the unions to put downward pressure on overtime and double shifts,” he said.

The spokesman said the number of available graduate placements had increased 80 per cent, with $11.9 million in last year’s budget to recruit more nurse graduates.

“Tasmania has the highest rate of FTE public hospital staff of any state in Australia,” the spokesman said.

“We acknowledge and thank our local nursing workforce for their efforts supporting crucial COVID-19-related clinics and other operations.”

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