Hospital bosses are reviewing nursing shift patterns
Poll: Shift rota review could see nurses working 12 hours
by lizzie parry
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
3:51 PM
NEW shift patterns set to be rolled out across Ipswich Hospital will see some nurses working 12-hour day or night shifts.
The new rotas are expected to be introduced across the Heath Road trust following a successful trial on the maternity and children’s wards.
Rather than 7am to 3pm and 1pm to 9pm shifts, The Star understands the shifts would be 12 hours and either day or night shifts.
One source raised fears over stretching frontline staff, already working at full capacity and questioned whether patient safety is being put at risk.
But union bosses said that as long as staff take their breaks there is no reason patient safety should be compromised.
Tim Roberts, Unison’s regional secretary for Suffolk, said they have been closely involved with the year long pilot across maternity and children’s services.
“Longer shifts means fewer hand-overs and at hand-over time wards are double staffed so the trust should save money,” he said.
“Our primary concern is always around duty of care and that people are not being put in a position where they are exhausted and make mistakes, which is dangerous to patients.”
Mr Roberts said during the pilot matrons and managers made a commitment that there was no reason for any member of staff to miss their breaks.
He added: “If staff take their breaks there is nothing, in principle, wrong with working 12 hours.
“We would be looking for that continued commitment from managers to ensure staff can take those breaks.”
Dr Lynne Wigens, director of Nursing and Quality said there is a review of shift patterns under way but emphasised there is no “one size fits all” policy.
“The Trust is working with staff and staff representatives to support those who wish to work 12 hour shifts where appropriate,” she said.
“Some wards and departments have introduced different shift patterns over the last few years. Twelve hour shifts, and shorter shifts, are being looked into at present and staff that will be affected will be written to in the next month.
“However it is not new to the trust and where it is appropriate has the benefit of more clinical staff being available through reduced time spent in hand-over.
“Twelve hour shifts include appropriate meal and rest breaks and staff who do not wish to work 12 hour day shifts will not be expected to do so.”
n What do you think? E-mail health reporter Lizzie Parry at lizzie.parry@archant.co.uk
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7 comments
StarReader. Wherever it is you live (I do understand you, we get the same in Crofton Road!) it is NOT YOUR ROAD. It is a public highway.
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Mark
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The CONDEMED government have already messed up the front line services in this country, cutting numbers to the bone making the already slender resources double their workload, reduced budgets, cuts to the pensions, pay freezes and now making them work 12 hour shifts so now their already anti family shift pattern will be even worse. Talk about lack of work life balance! People don't join the front line services for the salary (which are not as great a people think) or the pension. They join to help others, but when you work long shifts at all hour, have your rest days re-rostered at short notice, have high demands of work with huge accountability and deal with the most difficult situations on a daily basis that the regular Joe never has to see. Then the salarypension kind of ease the pain somewhat. 12 hour shifts is yet another knife in the back!
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equalibrium
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
this has been the case in various departments for ages.. try and keep up EADT
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Kings G IPS
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Great....so that'll be at least 12 hrs a day that we can't even park in our own road........BUILD A FREE STAFF CAR PARK!!!
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StarReader
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Having seen how had nurses work at the hospital I think 12 hour shifts are to long! Many times nurses do not get their breaks in the shift due to the demand on the ward, Management would need to ensure that every member of staff manages to get their breaks in full, during their shift otherwise it could lead to major safety risks for the patients being treated.
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Colin Smith
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Hardly a story, most nurses in private sector already do 12 hour days, and when I worked as a nurse in the NHS we used to do long days starting at 6.45 and ending at 21.00 in effect a double shift, which many of them still do now, so surely a 12 hour shift is better??
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Kate
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
For many years I worked 12 hour shifts in computer centres, where my work was fairly sedentary and didn't need a huge amount of concentration. And by the end of my shifts I was usually very tired (especially after a 12 hour night shift). Imagine what sort of mental and physical state someone doing the kind of work nurses have to do would be in at the end of a long shift like that - the potential for fatal mistakes due to tiredness is going to be massively increased - and of course it'll be the nurses who get blamed for any mistakes, not the "sitting comfortably behind a desk for 8 hours" types who made this decision.
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beerlover
Tuesday, October 30, 2012