Covid-19: Omicron likely to trigger ‘national emergency’ – nurses union

The nurses union says it is worried New Zealand’s health system – “already in critical condition” – could be “completely overwhelmed” by Omicron.

On Wednesday, the New Zealand Nurses Union said healthcare workers weren’t coping with “business as usual” over summer, with little Covid-19 in the community.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said the sector was struggling across the board: “We simply can’t keep up. Come Omicron, and come winter, we will see the system collapsing under the strain”.

Covid-19 patients will not get the best quality care; surgeries will be delayed and clinics will be cancelled – “hugely” affecting the population, especially with regard to minimising preventable illness and treating diseases such as cancer, Nuku said.

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As of Tuesday, there had been 29 community cases of Omicron.

People with Omicron are 50 to 70 per cent less likely to need hospital care than those with other variants of Covid-19.

However, with the increased risk of transmission, reduced hospitalisation rates could be exceeded by increased rates of infection.

The union is supporting the likes of the Association for Salaried Medical Specialists and New Zealand Medical Association who say understaffing in the healthcare sector is an “emergency which, left unchecked, will have severe long-term repercussions for the health of Aotearoa New Zealand”.

“We call this an emergency because it needs urgent action,” Nuku said.

Nuku said the Government “must listen” and respond to the concerns of health workers at the coalface.

NZNO was calling for Government-funded nursing recruitment drives, free nursing study, prioritised MIQ spots specifically for nurses and healthcare workers, as well as supply of the “best” PPE; rapid antigen testing; and “robust” home isolation procedures.

Nuku said above all else, the union needed people to want to join and remain in the nursing profession. She called for pay equity to be extended to all nurses regardless of where they practice.

Nuku said health workers’ interests needed to be at the “fore” of action: “Because without us there is no health system.”

Doctors have previously expressed their concern an “onslaught” of Omicron cases will “overwhelm an already overwhelmed health system”.

On Wednesday, 68 per cent of Intensive Care Unit/High Dependency Unit beds and 85 per cent of ward beds were occupied across the country, and 17 per cent of ventilators were in use, with just six Covid patients in hospital.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said they were “very aware that some DHBs are carrying high numbers of nursing vacancies and face challenges recruiting and retaining nurses to their workforce”, amid a global shortage.

“Significant” work has been undertaken by DHBs and the ministry to prepare for “both managing Covid-19 in the community and any surge in case numbers”.

The ministry said it allocated $2m to DHBs to support critical care surge training initiatives covering 1400 staff, and was “working closely” with the tertiary sector to consider strategies to increase recruitment and retention into education pathways.

An international recruitment campaign targeting ICU nurses led by DHBs was starting this month – aimed at incentivising experienced critical care nurses to return to New Zealand, the spokesperson said.