IT would be ironic if the Dubbo Hospital was struggling to fill 27 critical nursing positions because the health system was short of hiring staff.
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The suggestion that a shortage in the state health department's recruiting area was creating problems on the ground at the hospital and creating massive overtime bills was made by the NSW Nurses and Midwifes Association (NSWNMA).
Its Dubbo branch has told the Western Local Health District (WLHD) it has until Wednesday to fix the shortage or its members will close beds themselves.
The NSWNMA says nursing staff across the hospital are averaging 423 hours of overtime a week to cover the shortage.
That is a massive amount of overtime. If the problem does lie inside the health department, the ramifications and overtime bills would be much larger.
Perhaps even enough to hire some recruiters to hire some nurses. It may sound odd but stranger things have happened in governments.
The WLHD will obviously be unable to hire the nurses needed by Wednesday and the short notice is a sign of frustration from some of its overworked staff.
Nurses, the hospital and, more importantly, patients would all be victims of the problem.
A cure is needed quickly. So is a look into the causes and the results should be made public.