Pahiatua clinic staff threaten mass resignations over severe understaffing
Staff at Pahiatua Medical Centre say they will quit en masse by 16 October unless the Primary Health Organisation intervenes to fix chronic understaffing.
Victoria Perry, a nurse practitioner at Pahiatua Medical Centre, said the centre’s inability to replace staff has pushed preventative cancer screenings a year behind schedule and created three-month waits for routine appointments. With only 1.6 nurses remaining from a previous five, the clinic cannot even deliver child immunisations or flu vaccines. Perry and her colleagues have asked the Primary Health Organisation to broaden its workflow review to probe management failures and to guarantee a swift, confidential consultation process.
They have set an ultimatum to resign by 16 October if no broader review is launched. PHO chief executive Tony Wai indicated that Health New Zealand and other partners are exploring options such as locum support, telehealth and local clinical cover, while the practice remains open.
