A West Australia health boss has conceded there is a problem with high staff turnover at a remote hospital as the region braces for the arrival of COVID-19.
New WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Kimberley acting director Robert Pulsford acknowledged the issue after several senior health workers at Kununurra Hospital raised the alarm to the ABC, saying patient safety was at risk due to a worsening staffing crisis.
The frontline staff spoke out on condition of anonymity, accusing management of not adequately addressing complaints about rostering, employee burn-out and patient care.
For months, the WACHS has mostly blamed chronic short-staffing on border restrictions, which are due to be lifted next week.
However, the ABC has been told more than a dozen health workers, mostly nurses, have left the hospital in the past six months, largely because of a poor workplace culture and systemic issues on the ward.
Mr Pulsford said the health service wanted to arrest high staff turnover rates at Kununurra hospital.
'Something will happen'
The ABC understands significant pressure has been placed on midwifery services, where already overstretched midwives are caring for mothers and newborns while covering staffing gaps on the ward.
Kununurra normally has at least one midwife on shift, but lately the position has at times been on-call, even reaching the point where telehealth services from Broome is the only option.
One senior health worker told the ABC that staff fear a scenario in which a pregnant mother presents to the hospital with serious complications and there is no doctor or midwife available to treat them.
More broadly, WACHS has come under scrutiny for low staff morale, and health workers say Kununurra Hospital is no exception.
"Tears are frequent, people are visibly unhappy; people don't feel heard or cared about ... it's miserable," a health worker said.
"The ward doesn't function, there's less staff, more overtime, more double shifts, more pressure and people working over their contracted hours."
Mr Pulsford said WACHS was looking at increasing financial incentives to improve retention.
"We know we haven't gotten everything right, but my number one priority is making sure staff feel heard and supported and that concerns are acted on," he said.
'People deserve better than this'
Another senior health worker said management often did not allow enough time for nurses and doctors to properly review and manage safety protocols.
"It's causing quality and safety issues for the general population," the health worker told the ABC.
Mr Pulsford said there had been no increase in clinical incidents at the hospital.
Wyndham East Kimberley Shire president David Menzel met recently with WACHS bosses in Perth as the wider threat of COVID-19 looms.
"It's obviously a huge concern to the community and to the shire and myself," he said.
"With COVID going to put more demand on our health professionals it's a particularly worrying time."
WACHS's handling of staffing issues in the Kimberley has come under recent scrutiny after a nurse blew the whistle about working unsafe hours.
