{"id":296298,"date":"2021-03-26T12:46:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T02:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=296298"},"modified":"2021-03-26T12:49:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T02:49:05","slug":"hospital-staff-numbers-up-mp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/03\/26\/hospital-staff-numbers-up-mp\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital Staff Numbers Up: MP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Health Minister Yvette D’Ath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 26, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total staff numbers at Kingaroy, Nanango and Murgon hospitals have risen since November, not fallen, according to Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.<\/p>\n

The Minister responded on Thursday to a Question On Notice by Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington submitted in State Parliament on February 23.<\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington quizzed Mrs D’Ath about staffing levels at the three hospitals (full-time equivalent, part-time, casual and contract)\u00a0 following community complaints about apparent understaffing at the hospitals.<\/p>\n

Mrs D’Ath said the collective staffing levels at the three hospitals was 278.15 staff.<\/p>\n

“There has been a collective increase in staff at the three hospitals in question,” Mrs D’Ath said.<\/p>\n

However, the Minister admitted that 61 shifts between November 1, 2020, and February 15, 2021, had been identified in an audit as short-staffed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I have been advised that, of the total number of shifts in the aforementioned period, 3.3 per cent were short-staffed and 1.31 per cent were overstaffed,” Mrs D’Ath said.<\/p>\n

She said full-time staff at the new Kingaroy Hospital were “sufficient to cover all shifts”.<\/p>\n

“However, the profiles for the new hospital have been in transition phase since opening in December,” Mrs D’Ath said.<\/p>\n

“This transitional phase includes trial shift profiles … appropriate profiles were created in late January following the above trial periods which should address deficits.”<\/p>\n