Te Whatu Ora’s inability to answer basic questions about staffing levels shows an independent inquiry into the tragic death of a patient in the Waikato emergency department must be held, NZNO says.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter says NZNO’s thoughts and condolences are with the whānau of the man who died.
"New Zealanders need to know their local emergency departments (EDs) have enough staff to provide the health care they need, when they need it.
"Te Whatu Ora’s Midland executive regional director Cath Cronin refused to say this morning whether the ED was understaffed on Monday night. The public deserve better than obfuscation," Paul Goulter says.
NZNO had spent 20 months in bargaining raising concerns that short staffing is putting patients at risk, he said.
"After 20 months of their concerns being brushed off, our members have little confidence in Te Whatu Ora reviewing its own processes.
"The independent inquiry must also look at funding levels and whether the hospital has adequate funding to staff the ED.
"Health Minister Simeon Brown says the ‘the family will rightly want answers’. NZNO couldn’t agree more. Those answers must also include whether his Government has deliberately underfunded the hospital to meet their arbitrary cost cutting budget," Paul Goulter says.
Te Whatu Ora was put on notice over its dangerous short-staffing last year by Coroner Ian Telford following the death of Len Collett in an under-resourced Taranaki Base Hospital in 2020, he says.