No permanent Oamaru Hospital staff are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the Waitaki District Health Services' controversial 'proposal for change' review, it has been announced today.
Staff were informed of the proposal in February, which involved a proposed staffing restructure and changes to the layout of the hospital.
Consultation closed in late March after it was extended by about two weeks, which resulted in a total of 185 individual submissions.
In a statement, Waitaki District Health Services chairman Chris Swann said the feedback from staff had been an essential part of the process.
''This feedback has been carefully listened to and components of the original proposal have been amended accordingly.''
Waitaki District Health Services chief executive Ruth Kibble said permanent staff levels were expected to be retained under the modified review.
''Significantly, no permanent staff member should lose employment with our company as a result of these decisions. Our staff are passionate people who are currently working in an environment where there is a lack of clarity about systems, information and processes.''
As a result of the proposal, the nurse leader role will be changed to director of nursing and operations who will co-ordinate Allied Health groups; all Allied Health, that will also have designated professional leaders.
Staff will pick up ''clinical workload'' hours after plans for additional full time equivalent staff for quality improvement projects were scrapped.
The nurse educator role has been retained.
A new inpatient nursing roster will be established and a health care assistant role added in the area of acute nursing.
While the roles of duty nurse managers and nurse co-ordinator have been disestablished, the staff currently in those roles have not been made redundant.
There would be no change to chemotherapy roles.
However, the vacant team leader role would not be filled and will be replaced by a shift leader.
Orderly roles have been disestablished and staff offered healthcare assistant or cleaning roles, and the handyman role retained.
Proposed changes to administration have been put on hold and hospital aides and Allied Health assistants will become health assistants, which will result in an increase in the number of full time equivalent roles.
The emergency department will now be called the acute care area and act as the hospital's emergency department, resuscitation, observation and stabilisation area.
The changes will be rolled out over the next several weeks.
