Arguments between unions and district health boards over how many nurses hospitals need could be eliminated by new software that shows what patients need, the director of a unit that oversees the system says.
Safe Staffing Healthy Workplaces Unit director Jane Lawless said health boards had ''fears'' the new software being rolled out would reveal a lack of nurses.
Unions had been anxious too but so far, the computer system had not shown any oversupply of nurses once it was fully up and running.
Ms Lawless, of Hamilton, said unions hoped the programme would address long-standing concerns they had about staffing. The idea was to determine patient requirements for each ward and work from that to staff units, instead of from a budget.
''After years of the unions and the DHBs arguing over things like staffing, they're taking the risk of working together to sort it out together.''
The TrendCare software is part of Care Capacity Demand Management, a joint strategy between health boards, the Public Service Association and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Earlier this month, Southern District Health Board members were given information that appeared to show nursing care was overprovided, although some wards, such as critical care, have minimum staffing levels that cannot be altered.
The reporting of the figures in the Otago Daily Times sparked concern that the data had been reported too early and could be misleading. Southern had used the software for eight months, which was too early to have developed a formula for each ward to calculate an accurate required-care figure.
''At the moment it's quite a blunt [figure], but it's what they've got.''
This was because health was complicated and each day was different. For example, the system needed to work out how to factor in quiet or ''bitsy'' days without distorting the overall picture. This more detailed process had begun in two wards at Southern so far, she said.
