Burnout ‘is still rife’ across the GHA, shadow health minister says 

Burnout “is still rife” across the GHA, shadow minister for health Joelle Ladislaus said, as she highlighted concerns around communication, spending and overtime. 

Mrs Ladislaus discussed some of the core issues which, in her view, affect the GHA on an ongoing basis. 

For her, some of the issues stem from expansion without adequate human resourcing and a lack of interdepartmental communication. 

She told the Chronicle that many of the complaints she receives are regarding burnout and she questioned whether the necessary recruitment is taking place. 

“Burnout is still rife across the GHA,” she said. 

She said the Government has previously said that some staffing complements are full, but in her view the issue of lack of resourcing persists. 

“The question is, they're full complements to who? What is the benchmark as to what a full complement is? Because we keep hearing from the minister, especially in Parliament, that they're giving the GHA everything they ask for.” 

“But that's not what we're hearing elsewhere.” 

She added that new units are being created such as the chemotherapy and oncology suite, which she agrees are positive advances in the local healthcare provision. 

But her concern lies with the rate of expansion and whether staffing levels are being kept up. 

She pointed out how the number of beds in the oncology suite will double, despite staffing levels not set to increase. 

“Logic dictates that if you're already doubling the number of beds, and they're already stretched, then you need to increase that complement, because otherwise you've got a big issue on your hands,” she said. 

“That's one of the big key issues, the fact that you cannot expand everything without expanding your complement. It's just impossible.” 

She added that, in her view, the Government is focused on expanding services and opening new areas without sufficient attention to staff resources. 

“It always seems to be the shiny, the picture-taking, and the ‘I've opened another department’, and that’s great, but you need the framework, the skeleton has to be there before you can build it, which is why I always talk about going back to basics, because if we lack the basics, then everything else crumbles,” Mrs Ladislaus said. 

She said the GSD is “often accused and criticised” of stating that, if in government, the party would cut spending.  

For Mrs Ladislaus, spending needs to be assessed to understand how the funds can best be used. 

She pointed to overtime spend that she said could instead be used to recruit additional members of the team. 

She said staff are being burnt out as they are having to do overtime as wards are not sufficiently staffed. 

“If you don't turn up to work, again like we've seen, elective surgeries don't happen,” she said. 

She added that staff can feel pressured to do the extra hours. 

“What you've got is a scenario where they're working more hours and perhaps the money they're spending on that overtime and on burning these people out could be spent on better staffing numbers,” she said. 

“Just increase that complement where it's needed and don't take too long to do it because there are some vacancies open.” 

“We've asked questions in Parliament in the past few months and some of those vacancies have been open for 18 months plus, so that's a big issue as well.” 

She recognised that there is a global shortage of healthcare professionals, but highlighted that some vacancies have been left open for years. 

“You cannot leave a post open for three or four years while somebody finishes their training,” Mrs Ladislaus said. 

“Because what does the GHA do in that time period? And I appreciate, again, that it then becomes about having to bring in the agencies in order to cover.” 

“But again, that's a massive cost to the GHA. So what do you do there?” 

“That future-proofing has left a massive gap.” 

She recognised that the GHA has excellent facilities and staff, and future-proofing the service is vital particularly when the census has shown that the local population has grown and people are living longer. 

When it comes to the UK/EU treaty and how it could affect the GHA, Mrs Ladislaus said the “devil is in the detail”. 

She questioned arrangements for ambulances crossing the border post-treaty and what this would look like. 

“We're cautiously welcoming it, because I do believe that a deal, given what I know a deal could bring, is better [than not having a deal],” she said. 

“But it just depends on that detail in it, so it's very difficult to say, at this stage, with any certainty, what's going to happen.” 

Mrs Ladislaus added that ministers should only be dealing with policy and that there should not be any overstep by ministers in the GHA. 

“You have professionals who are well remunerated and who have the qualifications to deal with these scenarios,” she said. 

“That's what you employ your people for.” 

“So when these things happen, much as I imagine it's tempting to step in, you have to let them deal with these issues.” 

She said that GHA staff may not be willing to speak up when a government minister is in the room. 

Another issue facing the GHA, Mrs Ladislaus said, is the lack of communication and record keeping. 

She said there have been issues where patient records are missing or not up to date. 

“I know that there's an exercise that's ongoing, but my understanding again is that that exercise, at some point, had to be slowed as well because of resourcing issues again,” she said. 

“I have concerns there because you cannot have a doctor who doesn't have the records in front of them.” 

“It's as simple as departments don't seem to have the communication between them.” 

JUSTICE 

On her justice shadow portfolio, Mrs Ladislaus said rehabilitation and counselling were needed, questioning why there are no prison counsellors currently supporting prison inmates. 

“It's one of the most basic things that we can have for the rehabilitation of prisoners. We don't have it,” she said. 

She added there is now a halfway house for divorced and separated men, but that there is a “massive gap” for inmates who leave prison. 

“A release into the wide world when somebody who might have been in for three years and has an institutionalised mentality, and you're releasing them with all the temptations [outside], with all the issues that they may have had, and you don't have anybody to talk to,” she said. 

“You don't have a structured programme that helps you in slowly. Of course, some of them are reoffending.” 

“It's inevitable. They're going to reoffend. They don't have a support system.” 

“We're failing there, I think. We are failing individuals there.”