Recruitment ongoing at Ashburton Hospital
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Staffing vacancies are not stopping the Ashburton Hospital from providing “all of its services”.
Te Whatu Ora Canterbury executive director of nursing, Becky Hickmott, said the hospital currently has 14.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) nursing vacancies it is looking to fill out of its 167 nursing roles at the hospital.
“While we have had some staff movement, our vacancy numbers are higher because we have had an additional 9.3FTE approved for the hospital,” Hickmott said.
“We are actively recruiting into all vacancies and we have three new graduate nurses starting shortly which will reduce our vacancies to 11.4FTE.”
In February, the hospital had 10.6 FTE vacancies, and it was reshuffling staff and reviewing services to cope with demand as the Omicron wave started to sweep through the region.
By June, a number of the positions were filled leaving just 4.8 FTE vacancies to be filled, but five months later that number has risen to 11.4 - bout 6% of the nursing staff.
Hickmott said all services in Ashburton are running despite the vacancies in Ashburton and a health system that is under pressure.
“Seasonal pressures have impacted patient flow throughout our health system, from general practice through to Emergency Departments.
“We are managing our vacancies by asking staff to be deployed where they are needed and asking staff to work additional shifts where possible.
“Our staff have worked really hard this year in a challenging environment. We are working hard to support their wellbeing and to ensure our team have some time out to recharge and take a break over the coming months.”
Adding to the challenge has been the ongoing impacts of Covid, with active cases still circulating in the community.
The Ministry of Health reported 2970 new cases in the region in the last week. It does not break case numbers down to a district level.
While there has been a rise in Covid case numbers in Canterbury, Hickmott said “we are still talking about small numbers”.
“We are transitioning into an endemic state, learning to live with Covid-19 in our communities, and we are stepping down our operations centre.”
*Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.5% Summer
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36.1% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
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