The province’s health authority says it has a prescription to wean itself off its dependence on expensive agency nurses.
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO Dr. Pat Parfrey went into some detail about the plan during a regular media briefing yesterday.
The province is under pressure to stop using agency nurses due to the cost—about $360,000 this year—and the impact on morale of public nurses who work side by side with them but are paid less.
Then there’s the recent Auditor General’s report which lambasted the previous health authorities for the waste and misuse of public money linked to agency contracts.
Parfrey said the use of agency nurses has been reduced from a peak of 350 last year, to about 250 now, with hopes to get it under 200 by next April, helped by the graduating class of 2026.
A summary of the AG’s recommendations provided by NL Health Services (VOCM News)
Meanwhile, the current number of nursing vacancies stands at 280.
Parfrey noted not using agency nurses would mean gaps in critical care across the province.
“We have vacancies in frontline places, where we have to deliver the service, and not filling it with an agency nurse means the service doesn’t get delivered,” he said. “I’m talking about things like internal medicine in Gander and Grand Falls, dialysis in Bonavista, long-term care facilities, emergency rooms …”
Parfrey said some agency nurses will be hired on for the summer to allow for vacation relief.
