Christchurch emergency department (ED) nurses have joined their Wellington Hospital counterparts in issuing a provisional improvement notice (PIN) notice to its DHB.
Documents leaked to 1 NEWS revealed the notice and show the depth of the crisis in nursing.
Wellington staff issued the notice just two weeks ago. Capital and Coast DHB said there had been capacity issues for months and working conditions were unsafe.
The crisis facing nurses at Christchurch ED comes with a grim prediction.
“Someone will die, someone will come into ED who has not been seen fast enough, they haven’t been able to triage them quickly enough - their condition will deteriorate enough that they will end up dying,” New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) industry coordinator Ron Angel said.
”Patients are waiting six, seven hours, patients are being seen in the corridors rather than a treatment room.”
The PIN issued by Christchurch’s ED nurses comes as NZNO members rejected the latest pay offer from the Government, with Health Minister Andrew Little accusing them of rejecting their own union’s proposal.
“I want to be very clear, the proposal that was put to nurses organisation members is one they put to the Government, the nurses organisation members have rejected their own union's proposal,” Little said.
“The nurses’ union has described the safe staffing clause in the offer they've just rejected as 'vague'. This is surprising given it was developed by their own negotiating team.”
The PIN is one of seven served to DHBs nationwide this year with similar concerns.
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