Health workers from northern New South Wales say hospitals have been left desperately unstaffed, nurses are fearing burnout and patients could miss out on critical care due to the strict measures on the border with Queensland.
Rules on the Queensland-NSW border mean (AHPRA), such as doctors and nurses, can cross the border for work.
Hospital cleaners, speech pathologists and social workers have not been deemed essential, meaning those who live on the Queensland side of the border cannot commute to and from work in NSW.
Those in NSW forced to work long hours to fill the void left by their colleagues trapped at home in Queensland are exhausted and say there is no relief in sight.
“Quite a lot of staff are affected [at northern NSW hospitals]. Fifty per cent of the social work staff are not able to come to work, 70 per cent of the speech pathologists cannot come to work and 70 per cent of the dieticians are not able to come to work,” Belinda Hinchey, a hospital physiotherapist and the Health Services Union delegate for the Tweed region, told SBS News.
“That means the staff that are left have got to try and cover the roles. They are all very stressed and they are tired.”
Lynne Weir, the acting Chief Executive of the NSW Northern Local Health District, said current staffing arrangements at border hospitals are "not sustainable".
HSU delegate Belinda Hinchey Source: Supplied
“All members of our health workforce are essential to the efficient running of our public hospitals … this includes our allied health clinicians, cleaning and administrative staff, as well as food services and other support staff,” she said in a statement.
“We will continue to advocate for our full workforce to be able to continue working in our public health system.”
Ms Weir said patient care has not suffered as a result of the staffing shortage, but those on the ground say this is not true.
“The workers that are left are trying to see who they can, but they cannot cover the full caseload, so people are missing out on seeing those health professionals,” said Ms Hinchey.
A nurse who has worked in the region for 18 years told SBS News she is on the edge of burnout.
Her identity has been hidden, as she is afraid speaking out will breach her contract.
“I have never seen anything like it,” she said.
“My colleagues who are wardies, cleaners, kitchen staff, dieticians, social workers, and speech pathologists who live in Queensland are being told they are not essential workers and if they turn up for work in the Tweed or Murwillumbah Hospital they cannot return home.
“We are drastically understaffed because of the border restrictions … those who can work will burn out.”
Hard border to stay
Queensland is unwilling to ease the rules until the COVID-19 situation in New South Wales stabilises.
The Queensland government recently turned down proposed amendments to the hard border following two days of high-level talks with NSW counterparts.
Meeting chair and NSW cross-border commissioner James McTavish said the restriction were having a "substantial impact" on healthcare.
“We know that those issues are impacting on patient outcomes and the availability of appointments,” he said.
“People are still able to go to Queensland for their appointments, but if you don’t have a workforce that is available, if you don’t have people who are able to provide those services in the hospital, then those health systems become unworkable".
Mr McTavish said the restrictions were too harsh.
James McTavish Source: Supplied
"We’d like to see changes in the definitions of essential workers, to allow people involved healthcare and other industries to get to work," he said.
"We’re not proposing that we open the border unilaterally, we are not proposing a free-for-all, but we are proposing some measures that will allow people to access the services they need more readily."
SBS News contacted the Queensland government for comment, which directed questions to the Queensland Police Service.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Queensland Police Service said discussions about the border were ongoing.
“The discussions remain constructive and focussed on achieving an outcome that best meets the needs of communities affected most. We are considering all options to this complex challenge.”
Mr McTavish said he hoped rising vaccination rates in both states will lead to solution soon.
“I think we should all recognise that when we’re making these decisions around border restrictions and closures, at the centre of all of this are people,” he said.
“They’ve all worn it pretty hard for the past 20 months and I am hopeful that with vaccination rates rising, with people taking the pandemic seriously, that we will see an easing of restrictions.”
