Northland health workers cover admin breaks as IT outages strain hospitals

By Ruth Hill of RNZ Front-line health workers in Northland are being asked to “fill in” on reception to let overworked administration staff take toilet breaks. Outages of critical IT systems for radiology, lab results and phone services have also added to the pressure on staff. Northland is regularly down to just one person on overnight – instead of two – to cover admin for Whangārei, Kaitāia, Bay of Islands, Dargaville and Rawene hospitals, the switchboard for both Whangārei and Bay of Islands, and staff Whangārei Hospital ’s emergency department reception between 11pm and 7am.

Healthcare assistants, triage nurses and duty managers have been asked to cover that person’s toilet breaks, pick up more paperwork, and avoid using the switchboard..