An Auckland Hospital nurse says his colleagues are working extra shifts or doing different jobs as COVID-19 takes a toll on staffing and case numbers rise.
Ben Basevi said in one case, just two nurses were available on a shift to care for a ward of 26 patients and fill-ins had to be found urgently to provide a safe level of care.
There were 50 COVID-19 patients in the hospital today.
They were already having a big impact, with non-urgent planned surgery called off for weeks, a decision made in part because of staffing shortages exacerbated by COVID-19.
Basevi is part of the safe staffing team but spoke to RNZ in his role as the Nurses's Organisation lead delegate at the hospital.
Many nurses were doing extra hours or were back on rosters after being nine-to-five to help make sure there was enough care, he said.
"Because [the hospital] is short anyway, it's been a challenge even without COVID," he said.
"The absences caused by staff getting unwell means wards will become unsafe if extra staff are not put in."
Auckland Hospital has stopped doing most non-urgent planned surgery.
And the smaller Greenlane Hospital is doing very little of anything other than eye surgery, with many staff redeployed to bolster numbers at the main hospital.
Auckland DHB said the workforce shortage was one factor behind the move but would not say how many nurses it was down.
Patients without COVID-19 were now being treated all over the hospital, not just in the dedicated wards.
That meant it took longer to do everything, with extra PPE and precautions required, Basevi said.
Nurses were feeling anxious.
"They're working extremely hard. There's a lot of nurses that... are fairly burnt out. We've been working for two or three years now under quite difficult conditions," he said.
The DHB must look after nurses, he said.
"That's really critical because if there's no nurses, there ain't no care," he said.
Acute and emergency surgery was continuing, along with urgent planned care.
The DHB said it could still care for anyone who needed to be in hospital, and that was what the elective cuts helped it to do.
RNZ
