HEALTH and Social Services knew a year ago of severe staffing problems at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, the Guernsey Press can reveal.
A special report commissioned by the department drew three alarming conclusions if the situation continued:
- Service safety becoming compromised due to poor staffing and problems with the skill mix.
- Service reductions possibly being forced on the department or it having to end activities to protect core services.
- Service integrity being compromised and delivery of safe services becoming problematic.
The report also said that the challenges were not new and asked for more flexibility on housing licences and the easing of immigration restrictions.
It sheds new light on what was really happening behind the scenes when two weeks ago the department denied it had any immediate plans to close beds at the PEH.
On Thursday, it announced that 10 of the 30 on Giffard Ward would close after two senior nurses resigned.
The report and other developmnts also cast doubt on claims by Health and Housing, which continued to stress they were working effectively together over recruitment issues and housing licences.
Health released a statement yesterday that confirmed the board did discuss about a year ago a report on staffing levels and the implications of recruitment and retention issues.
It said it had since then made ‘substantial efforts’ to recruit more nurses with the right range of skills and experience, trained new nurses and received good cooperation from Housing and the Public Services Remuneration Committee to improve the package on offer.
‘All of these things take time to have an effect and it is unfortunate that we have a situation where a number of departures have resulted not only in a problem in staffing one of our wards but also in providing adequate support to less-experienced staff,’ a spokesman for the department said.
‘However, the HSSD has, until now, been able to maintain full services thanks to the use of agency nurses and to the willingness of our own staff to work extra hours – for which the board and senior management are extremely grateful.
But in another development, evidence has emerged of Health and Social Services board members’ concerns about the politicisation of the granting of housing licences.
Health minister Hunter Adam is reported as saying that ‘the system’ in Guernsey meant that being too confrontational did not achieve anything and ‘the attitude of the deputy Housing minister was generally against granting housing licences’.
The deputy Housing minister said there was the problem of Housing ‘not being sympathetic to the HSSD’.
That is something denied by Housing minister Dave Jones, who stressed it treated Health no differently to other departments or the private sector.
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Comment Page 14
Article posted on 18th April, 2009 - 2.30pm
6 Article Comments
Yet another example of The States of Guernsey complacency.
Money spent on the wrong projects, such as restoring German bunkers, worthless consultancy fees,Minister’s Jolly’s etc. etc.
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Heads in the sand, there is a global shortage of nursing staff. Prepare to shut the whole place down unless you can compete on a level playing field. Keep your local population laws by all means, but at least be prepared to sound like you welcome nursing staff to this land of milk and honey and not have your “Elite” going on radio making speaches about local nurses training in the UK and wanting to come home to work. Where are they then?
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Health always get want they want with licences anywayl they always have.
This will be another tactic to get more flexibility to employ non-locals.
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if you are refering to the Cobo bunker Deepthoat i think you will find its for safety’s sake I think its the abutting wall not the bunker itself
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Nice one Nursie!There is a shortage,not just nurses, medics in general. Remove the “non locals”& agency staff, hospital closes! Bit dramatic I know but not far off the point! Give us a break and a decent way of life, this is is lovely and nice people, but its so expensive to live here, unless your financial, oop’s! I would love to live in the community but the rents are too high, and the rewards! Look at the adverts for nurses for Guernsey on the internet, they forget the bonus, nice though it is, is taxed, lower taxes, where?
The Government know where the problems are but are unable or unwilling to do anything about it! Anon
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Are Agency nurses paying Guernsey tax and social insurance as they employed by UK companies??? I have heard they earn about £30 an hour (more for Saturdays and Sundays) and some have been here years! If this is true then surely the politicians should be stopping this.
The nurses accommodation is really cheap – apparently even the newest is about £400 a month for a furnished flat which includes all heating, electric, washing machines etc – something my niece would love to be able to live in. She is still living at home as she cannot afford the £1000 a month for an unfurnished one bedroom flat which is the going rate over here – and then pay for the heating, electric, gas etc on top! Her wages wouldn’t cover even the basics. Key worker housing is too little too late but at least it is a start.
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