Te Kuiti Hospital
New overnight security staff members have been enlisted into the ranks at Te Kūiti Hospital, propping up a controversial security model, but safety concerns among unions remain.
NZNO delegate, Dana Hunt, and colleagues during October’s strike action
In May, Health NZ (Te Whatu Ora) rolled out its ‘integrated security, cleaning and attendant services model’ that tasks staff with security duties in addition to covering other roles including as cleaners and orderlies.
However, it appears that the new night shift will not need to first drop mops and buckets to defuse volatile situations – the new hires are in addition to the model, not replacements for it, The News understands.
New additions to the hospital’s roster have been recruited through Health NZ’s security provider, ISS Facility Services, Health NZ’s Stephanie Doe said.
“Three new ISS staff members started at Te Kūiti Hospital in the past few weeks, working either the dedicated overnight security shift or the integrated security, cleaning and attendant service,” the Waikato group director of operations said.
“The dedicated overnight security shift commenced last week – staff were specifically recruited to focus solely on security duties. In addition, vacancies within the hospital’s existing integrated security, cleaning and attendant service have also been filled.”
In response to warnings from unions that ‘multitasking’ could lead to dire consequences, Doe said all staff undertaking security duties at Te Kūiti Hospital had the required qualification to do so.
NZ Nurses’ Organisation union delegate Dana Hunt said all security staff should be solely focused on security duties.
Te Kuiti Hospital
Te Kuiti Hospital
“Aggression from the public, and sometimes from the patients, is common these days,” the Te Kūiti Hospital nurse said. “We nurses feel that it is impossible for people to clean and, at the same time, be alert to all security risks – one of these roles will suffer for the sake of the other.
“When we call people from cleaning duties to a security incident, it usually means we have to take time to give them directions about what to do.”
Hunt said assessments of security risks at the hospital have been conducted but she has never seen any results from them.
E tū, which represents security staff, said hiring more security staff at Te Kūiti Hospital was a step in the right direction but did not go far enough,
“The entire health workforce is massively overstretched and underfunded,” E tū’s Mat Danaher said. ”This contributes to a growing need for more dedicated, trained, experienced security across the country,” he said.
“However, we do understand Health NZ has a limited budget due to the government sucking money from the health system.”
The integrated security, cleaning and attendant service security model has also been employed at other small Waikato hospitals, Thames, Taumarunui and Tokoroa.
Te Kuiti Hospital
