The GSD has issued a response to the Minister for Health’s recent comments regarding staffing issues and elective surgeries at the GHA.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

The Minister for Health’s statement that the Government “do not consider that there are staff shortages at the GHA” is seriously concerning given that staff have been saying for months that they are being overworked because they are so stretched in terms of staffing levels. It can feel like no less than a kick in the teeth for hard working GHA staff showing up daily for their patients to repeatedly hear that the issues which they are  trying so hard to communicate to the Government, so that they can ensure the safety of their patients, are being blatantly ignored.  

The real question is - how is it that, as the Minister for Health glibly claims, only a handful of surgeries have  been cancelled over summer in the face of all the underlying problems? The answer seems to be that, despite  the significant strain they are under, GHA staff have been able to juggle excessive workloads with a very  small number of staff on hand to care for post-operative patients. We have been receiving reports of limited  numbers of qualified nurses caring for vast numbers of patients on St Bernard’s Hospital’s wards, which is  worrying given how vulnerable post-operative patients are, as well as patients discharged from hospital far  too soon because of the need for beds to become free. None of this is new. What the recent cancellations  of surgical procedures does show is what happens when things come to a head, reach breaking point and  there is no staff left to pick up the pieces because the Government prefer shiny pictures and statistics, and  the wellbeing of both staff and patients is sacrificed in the process. 

In response to the Minister for Health’s reaction to the recent cancellation of elective surgeries at St  Bernard’s Hospital, the shadow for Health, Joelle Ladislaus said: “The recent cancellation of elective surgeries  at the GHA is simply one example of the culmination of issues which GHA staff, and the GSD, have been  emphasising for months now, and continue to highlight because the situation has a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing, and the knock-on effect is that patient safety is compromised.  

A decrease in the number of elective surgery cancellations doesn’t mean a successful policy when it comes  at the cost of overworked staff who feel frustrated, demotivated and burnt out, and the only thing that  seems to matter to this Government is presenting statistics, which don’t provide the public with the bigger  picture happening behind closed doors. Decreases in the number of cancellations of elective surgeries are obviously welcome, but to set aside the  reasons behind those numbers is to ignore the systemic problems that the GHA is experiencing. If root causes  are never tackled, then problems persist.”