Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
Te Whatu Ora data released today shows patients are continuing to be put at risk by the Coalition Government’s deliberate failure to safely staff hospital wards, NZNO says.
The NZ Herald today released data (available on request) on the 2025 staffing of 663 wards nationwide. It showed nearly half of all wards (42%) were understaffed more than a quarter of all shifts in last year.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO delegate and Hawke’s Bay nurse Noreen McCallan says many of the wards with the greatest nurse shortages are those with the most vulnerable patients.
“More than one-third (38%) of our Emergency Departments (ED) were understaffed more than half of the time last year.
“NZNO has consistently raised concerns that understaffing is dangerous. Sadly, earlier this month a man died after becoming unconscious in the waiting room of a busy Waikato Hospital ED which has been plagued with short staffing,” she says.
The 2025 data also shows more than half of all children’s wards (53%) were understaffed one in every five shifts and more than a quarter of surgical wards (27%) were understaffed more than a third of all shifts, Noreen McCallan says.
“Mental health continues to be understaffed at crisis levels with eight out of the 10 most understaffed wards last year being mental health wards. Most worryingly, one in ten mental health wards were understaffed for more than 80% of all shifts last year.
“Again, NZNO has continued to raise concerns about short staffing at mental health facilities such as Hillmorton in Christchurch.
“In the past two years, NZNO delegates have met with MPs, written to Te Whatu Ora leaders, taken strike action and undertaken surveys of our members.
https://kaitiaki.org.nz/article/rotorua-nurses-raise-violence-safety-concerns-with-local-mp/
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361042443/i-feel-im-just-drowning-nurses-say-hospital-workload-forces-them-ration-care
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/577443/nurses-midwives-healthcare-assistants-to-take-further-strike-action-over-unsafe-staffing
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/594882/the-job-eats-away-at-you-hillmorton-hospital-staff-facing-burnout-anxiety-over-working-conditions
“There have also been two recent Coronial inquests finding short staffing contributed to patient deaths in Taranaki ED and in Palmerston North Hospital.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/coroner-finds-leonard-colletts-fatal-fall-in-taranaki-base-hospital-ed-was-foreseeable-and-preventable/42YU34NZBZDBZMVS5J3IOXNBVI/
https://kaitiaki.org.nz/article/exclusive-learning-the-lessons-of-erica-hume-new-mental-health-unit-might-have-old-problems/