Council / NHS staff ‘are under pressure’, health director says
SHETLAND’S director of health and social care says she “couldn’t honestly say that staff are not under pressure” at NHS Shetland.
Jo Robinson was quizzed by councillor Robbie McGregor about what the health board is doing to protect its staff following a continued period of strain.
McGregor, who himself was admitted to the Gilbert Bain Hospital last year, asked what steps were being taken to ensure staff were not being snowed under.
He said his own observation last year was that health workers “were under great pressure”.
But Robinson said she could not tell Wednesday’s integrated joint board (IJB) meeting that NHS Shetland’s staff were not strained.
“I couldn’t honestly say that staff are not under pressure,” she told the meeting.
“I think they are under pressure.”
NHS Shetland warned earlier this month that scheduled operations at the Gilbert Bain Hospital may have to be cancelled due to “current pressures” on the system.
A combination of patients with “longer than expected stays”, limited availability of community beds and staff illness across several settings were blamed.
There have been difficulties across health services since mid-February as a result of staff sickness and extended patient stays at the hospital.
Delayed discharges, where people are waiting to move out of hospital wards to more appropriate settings, were said to be at a high level.
Robinson said NHS Shetland was “trying all the time” to recruit new staff to cover vacancies within the service.
The health board would “try our absolute best to reduce” the strain on its staff, which was in part why they were often seen to spend so much on agency workers to plug gaps, she added.
“Staff go above and beyond constantly to try and deliver the best outcomes for people,” Robinson told Wednesday’s meeting.
“They’re working overtime, working additional hours.
“There’s definitely a residual layer of pressure on staff that will be having an impact on them, despite our best efforts.”
McGregor told the meeting he felt “very strongly” that the IJB had a “duty of care to protect our staff”.
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