States to pay for more nurses
Friday 25th September 2009, 3:00PM BST.
THIRTY-NINE nurses’ posts could be created by late changes to the States’ spending plans for next year.
Yesterday the States approved an 11th-hour request by the Chief Minister for a late £1.1m cash injection for the Health Department.
It is expected that the money will fund 39 nurses’ posts at a time when Health are struggling to recruit and retain qualified nurses to work at the General Hospital.
Earlier this month the head of the Jersey Nursing Association said that morale among members was at an ‘all-time low’ and that there were serious shortages in staff numbers.
Yesterday’s amendment to the Business Plan 2010 takes the budget of the department to £168m for 2010 and Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur told the States that he had visited the General Hospital to see the problems for himself and to talk to staff there.
The proposal was approved by 43 votes to one, with Deputy Rob Duhamel the sole objector.
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“THIRTY-NINE nurses’ posts could be created”
I sincerely hope this progresses beyond “could” as a critically ill patient I know all too well how understaffed the hospital is and how hard our nurses work.
I don’t care how strapped for cash we are there are some services that should be properly funded.
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At one time nurses were queueing up to come and work here,but now it seems they cannot live on the wages they get as everything is too expensive.
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The possibility of adding 39 nursing positions to the island’s health establishment is excellent news. Nevertheless, I would suggest that – like you and me – the States government must cut its clothes according to the cloth available.
Or, more simply put, if the money is there, good. If not, we will just have to soldier on.
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2) Bella – I shouldn’t worry about getting nurses in from the UK, Portugal etc. Judging by some previous comments on here there are bound to be plenty of locals who will want the jobs eh!!!
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There are far too many senior staff – managers etc in the Health Dept – prune a few more of those and they wouldn’t have needed any extra cash.
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Brilliant news! Lets just hope it includes a suitable package to improve retention of those nurses (and those we already have!)
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Keith #1, I totally agree with you, I have been in the hospital system as a patient for most of my life, I have seen a lot of change in this time. The mass majority of our nurses are worked beyond their call of duty these days with departments that are well understaffed, on very tight budgets.
At times I have had to question patient / nurse safety protocols when wards have been so understaffed.
But our nurses need more than what has been suggested here, wages to match along with affordable accommodation.
We also need to remember the consultants to, they work very long hours to, well beyond their contracts demand.
And TB #4, I believe it is only recently that it has been easier for “Locals” to train and qualify locally than uprooting, living and training in the UK.
We have a first class hospital in Jersey, anyone who disagrees needs to be a patient elsewhere to appreciate ours’ before commenting.
I was there when ex health deputy, Dick Shenton apologised for when he was the health president for such hospital cock-up’s, maybe a few more passed and recent senators might do the same!
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Instead of employing more Nurses , why don’t the States subsidise child care for all nurses and doctors etc and you will see how many nurses will come out of early retirements. This will solve all the problems.
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#TB
Very few locals were interested in nursing years ago as there was plenty of other work-hence the need for nurses from uk and ireland,but i agree if they can get locals to do the job now so much the better.
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These posts have already been advertised in the UK and no one over there wants them.
This is old news we have had and still have a nursing shortage and we still cannot recruit nurses from the UK, so getting 39 more nurses on top of the ones we cant get anyway is just spin.
Nurses are underpaid in Jersey and that is that.
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Great news a trained nurse is worth their weight in gold.
I feel THINK TWICE BUY LOCAL should also apply here! local people who have been schooled and trained using the islands resources putting back something for the benfit of the island there are a multitude of benefits conecting to this notion including family support and already being established within island life!
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It is not just about salary, you can throw money at this and get a short term solution but to retain the right staff you have to look at the whole package and maybe a special J category (Or M category for essential trained medical staff)needs to be created to make things more attractive, and feasible for applicants.
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Yeah finally!!!
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great news, also even better news was the localy grown nurses training scheme.
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Ness, sorry if this sounds harsh, but no-one should be subsidising child care for anyone’s kids. People should have kids if, and only if, they can afford it (that includes taking into account childcare). Of course, this does mean that the cost of other things needs looked at, like rent, house prices, food prices etc.
The cost of essentials should be looked at, not the cost of non-essentials, that just discriminates against those that made different choices.
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I’m going to assume that Nellie is right about there being too many senior staff, as this is the case in almost every section of the public sector here and in the UK. It’s pathetic that it is taking so long for anyone to address this issue, however, I guess those that would have to address it would be those that know the very people whose jobs are pretty much pointless!
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16. Leah – Just to clarify my above comment -I was not commenting on the number of “medical staff” – we need as many of those as we can get – it’s clerical and admin managers and senior managers – bear in mind that the more chiefs we get – the less indians we can afford.
You only have to look at the lack of auxiliaries there are now at the hospital. I have a friend who broke both her wrists and her hair went unwashed for two weeks – she went home well before she should have, simply because she felt so dirty. This is 2009! Is it any wonder we get all these “super bugs”?
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The imported nurses provide an excellent service in the General Hospital. They are polite, courteous, efficient and above all very caring. They should receive the respect they deserve and their contracts should be extended without any questions asked.
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Hi Nellie, no worries, I got exactly what you meant, I just didn’t make it clear in my own post what I meant
I’m totally with you on this one.
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As for superbugs, there are many things that went astray with hospitals, presumably due to humans complaining.
Hospital is meant to be a place to get better, that may not always mean it is the nicest looking or most comfortable place. Most nurses rue the day that hospital did away with plastic sheeting and tiled walls, these surfaces were preferable for a sterile environment. But presumably at some point human comfort took precedence over getting well.
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Leah i assume you never intend to have kids? Because unless you are in a job that pays an extremely good wage and dont have any money worries there is never a ‘good’ time to have children.
Childcare is stupidly expensive for what it is really. And for some people thats their entire weeks wage gone on childcare.
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Nelly Macon wrote ‘interalia’:
“bear in mind that the more chiefs we get – the less indians we can afford.”
Some of the very best nurses in JGH were trained in India. The operating theatre nurses are a case in point.
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I totally agree Sarah! And no, I don’t intend to have kids, it is unaffordable to many and that’s why I stipulated that other aspects of society need to change to make it possible for families to live on one wage.
I will only have them if I can pay for them. I would also consider how many I have as I would consider just how drastically my circumstances could change in the future, so it would be only 1 or 2 for me. Of course I wouldn’t expect to also have a top car, huge TV, Sky subscription, foreign holidays etc. These are ‘sacrifices’ that I would happily make for the privilege of having a child. Having children is both a privilege and a should require sacrifice, society seems to have entirely forgotten about that second bit as the generation of ‘we can have it all’ parents has really kicked in. I recognise, however, that there are some people who have no luxuries and still struggle to afford their children, but they seem to be in a minority.
Still, none of this changes the fact that having a child is a choice, and as such the costs involved should not be borne by those who choose not to have children (or indeed those who simply cannot).
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Nellie
Perhaps you could be more specific as to which areas within H&SS are management heavy. Perhaps you could provide us all with an overview of the hospital hierarchical structure. Perhaps you could relay some insights as to the number of managers and the amount of staff they supervise. No? Perhaps you are simply making a popularist swipe at something you know little or nothing about.
NG
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I think that its great that they have stated training local people! Had the opportunity been there a few years ago i definately think i would have considered this as i did not want to go back to the uk to study again!
The nurses in Jersey are great! Bu they definately need more staff and soon!! I have 3 friends who are nurses and came over from the uk a couple of years ago now! The hours they do for the money they are on is a wonder why they bother at all!! I respect them so much for the effort they put into their work! I did special needs care work for quite a while and i know how hard that was, i cant imagine the things they have to see and deal with on a daily basis! The wages need to be raised and more nurses need to be trained! Never mind fixing pavements and building unneccesary statues!!
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22. Magnolia man – please note my comment was “indians” with a small “i” – not referring to race. I totally agree all the nationalites at the hospital do a great job.
22- Magnolia Man – my comments are based on reliable information – I always do my research thoroughly.
Practically, you just have to visit the hospital to see that there are far fewer staff actually providing patient care and support services, yet the amount of senior staff is far greater than it was say, 10 years ago. The cost cutting is always done at grass roots level.This along with the salary problems, is one of the major causes of the low morale in Public Health – talk to the staff – they’ll tell you exactly the same thing.
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26. Nellie – in case anyone is in doubt about the basis for your comments, I work for H&SS and can confirm that what you say is true!
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It’s the same at the Fire Service – approx 2 managers per firefighter!
These departments should be funded well enough to be allowed the resources to do the job they are designed for!
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It is odd how with advances in technology we have MORE managers and administrators and not less! We need more of those on the frontline, not more managers.
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I would cut as many management/administrative posts as possible to enable the savings to be better spent on providing more shop floor posts. Remember one manager is worth many staff posts.
A major overhaul and management cull would be my way of helping to solve these issues together with paying a better wage to attract more nurses.
It does seem that the public sector is top heavy with management where ever you look. I wonder why this is?
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What bugs me is that Jersey has surely seen how management-heavy structures are failing? Jersey could actually be ‘innovative’ and lead the way by accepting what everyone else knows, that management-heavy structures simply do not work and are too costly.
Why continue to follow the UK, even when the system doesn’t work? Why not lead by example and show the UK how it can be done?
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