“We’ve seen a significant increase in case numbers, but what is pleasing is that our health system remains strong,” Perrottet said. “We have the best health system in the country, arguably the best in the world, and that is because of years of investment,” he said. Intensive care hospitalisations were rising steadily, with 69 people in ICU beds – 39 of whom were unvaccinated.Ī spokeswoman for the South Eastern Sydney local health district confirmed it had “approached several nursing agencies to recruit additional staff to join our healthcare team”, and that it was “standard practice” for an LHD to organise its own staffing, including choosing to recruit internationally.Įarlier, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, claimed his state’s health system “remains strong”, and said the national close contact definition changes agreed to on Thursday would “put downward pressure in that space”. Hospitalisations in NSW grew to 832 on Friday, having more than doubled in the week since 382 were in hospitals the previous Friday. On Friday, NSW’s Covid outbreak became one of the fastest growing in the world, with daily cases almost doubling to 21,151 on New Year’s Eve.
Guardian Australia has also been told of concerning staffing ratios in the emergency department at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital in inner-Sydney, as well as at various hospitals across the city. The email urged any nurses who had patients who could be suitable for discharge to do so as soon as possible. The internal email also explained the hospital was “changing our model of care” to focus on emergency department presentations and ICU patients in the first instance. “Overseas recruitment is a glimmer of hope right now,” he said. The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary, Brett Holmes, said hospitals were going to “extraordinary lengths” and managers were “turning themselves inside out trying to find staff”. “It doesn’t really seem quite right to be wishing a happy new year,” the email said. “Across the facility, the patients numbers in the departments are unprecedented,” the email stated, noting the hospital had been forced to reopen its second Covid ward again. The last resort had been taken after managers approached more than seven local nursing and midwifery labour agencies, an effort which yielded just one additional registered nurse.Īdditionally, the hospital had approached private hospitals for workers and pulled back secondments, but had not been able to staff its wards sufficiently. “We have commenced the process for overseas recruitment,” the email stated.
The internal email, obtained by Guardian Australia, warns the hospital “can’t seem to keep up with the exposures and positive staff”, despite concerted efforts to source nurses.
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