Latest news with #TōpūtangaTapuhiKaitiakioAotearoa
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Assault Reignites Christchurch Hospital Parking Woes
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) is concerned that after-hours attacks on Christchurch Hospital staff returning to their cars have continued without a proper long-term solution to parking in sight. It follows the recent assault on a student midwife going back to her car from Kurawaka Waipapa. NZNO Christchurch delegate Al Dietschin says staff have raised concerns about parking at the hospital for more than a decade, possibly longer, and while there has been some action from Te Whatu Ora, it is not nearly enough to prevent the assaults from persisting. "How many incidents do we need to have before the employer acts in the interest of staff in accordance with the Health and Safety Employment Act? "They have to provide a safe work environment. They always say health and safety of staff is important, but these after-hours assaults continue to happen." Al Dietschin says the Tū Waka Waipapa building that opened opposite the hospital in November 2023 provides parking, but costs about $25 a day, which is unaffordable for most workers. In wake of many assaults in the past, the hospital provides a minibus shuttle between 9pm and 1am, but staff are often made to wait too long for this arrive. "Staff are reportedly walking to their cars because they're made to wait 30 minutes or more after working the late shift for the shuttle to arrive. Staff don't feel safe walking to cars after their shift or early morning in the dark, but they're sometimes forced to." Another shocking decision recently limits emergency department parking for lead maternity carers (community midwives) to five hours, he says. "This used to be available for unlimited time. Now they're forced to ask core staff to relieve them in the middle of a patient's labour so they don't get fined. That's not good for the safety of their patients." Al Dietschin says the solution is simple from the staff's perspective. "Staff only want safe after hours parking close to hospital, and we don't want to break the bank for this to happen."
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
History Shows Patients At Risk From Physician Associates
Press Release – New Zealand Nurses Organisation The introduction of physician associates is an unnecessary quick and cheap fix to the doctor shortage when we have a competent and experienced nurse practitioner workforce available to do this work. Avoidable harm caused to patients both in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom shows the introduction of physician associates is a risk to patient safety, New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says. Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced that physician associates will be regulated as a new profession in New Zealand. NZNO President Anne Daniels says the introduction of the new, overseas trained workforce, leaves patients vulnerable to misdiagnoses or worse. Similar concerns have also been raised by the Resident Doctors' Association. 'Here in New Zealand there have been concerns physician associates have failed to take a patient's blood pressure, leading to a brain bleed and loss of vision. 'In the United Kingdom where physician associates have been part of the health sector for the past 20 years, there has been a litany of issues including the misdiagnosis of an aggressive breast cancer resulting in the death of a young mother, opiates illegally prescribed, failure to detect a deadly pulmonary embolism and a drain left in a patient's abdomen.' Anne Daniels says nurses are focused on providing the safe, high-quality and culturally appropriate care New Zealanders expect and deserve. 'The introduction of physician associates is an unnecessary quick and cheap fix to the doctor shortage when we have a competent and experienced nurse practitioner workforce available to do this work. The Minister must immediately stop the introduction and regulation of physician associates here,' she says.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
History Shows Patients At Risk From Physician Associates
Avoidable harm caused to patients both in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom shows the introduction of physician associates is a risk to patient safety, New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says. Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced that physician associates will be regulated as a new profession in New Zealand. NZNO President Anne Daniels says the introduction of the new, overseas trained workforce, leaves patients vulnerable to misdiagnoses or worse. Similar concerns have also been raised by the Resident Doctors' Association. "Here in New Zealand there have been concerns physician associates have failed to take a patient's blood pressure, leading to a brain bleed and loss of vision. "In the United Kingdom where physician associates have been part of the health sector for the past 20 years, there has been a litany of issues including the misdiagnosis of an aggressive breast cancer resulting in the death of a young mother, opiates illegally prescribed, failure to detect a deadly pulmonary embolism and a drain left in a patient's abdomen." Anne Daniels says nurses are focused on providing the safe, high-quality and culturally appropriate care New Zealanders expect and deserve. "The introduction of physician associates is an unnecessary quick and cheap fix to the doctor shortage when we have a competent and experienced nurse practitioner workforce available to do this work. The Minister must immediately stop the introduction and regulation of physician associates here," she says.
