BOPDHB stand down 42 nurses over vaccine mandates

A total of 123 members of staff have been stood down by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board. File Image. SunLive.

A total of 123 members of staff have been stood down by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board after failure to comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate which came into effect at 11.59 pm on Monday.

As required by the government's Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 staff at medical facilities were required to have had at least their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine by this week's deadline.

However, 1309 DHB staff members were stood down across the country, as at 9.00am on November 17, after failing to comply with the order, including the 123 in Bay of Plenty.

That total was the second-highest in the country, behind Waikato's 154.

In total, 42 nurses have been stood down in the Bay of Plenty, four senior medical officers, six midwives and 71 other staff whose job descriptions are unavailable due to privacy reasons.

Neighboring Lakes DHB stood down 42 members of staff.

Lead DHB chief executive Rosemary Clements says DHBs have been actively encouraging staff to get vaccinated and are pleased with the overall high vaccination rates across the sector.

Rosemary says DHBs are continuing to consult with those unvaccinated staff members who are stood down to answer any questions they might have, discuss other options such as redeployment, support them through the process and encourage them to consider vaccination.

She says that staff who choose to be vaccinated while they are stood down will be able to return to the DHB.

'We have engaged and agreed with the health sector unions on the processes we are following,” she says.

Service delivery impacts will vary between DHBs and mitigations are in place where needed to minimise any impact to services, says Rosemary. These include careful staff rostering, and close monitoring of any areas where there may be some staff shortage.

'Our absolute focus is on ensuring continuity of patient care,” she states.

DHBs will reportedly be in a position early next week to provide an update on the numbers of staff who will be leaving the DHBs due to their unvaccinated status.

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3 comments

So unfair

Posted on 18-11-2021 18:28 | By Numberonekiwi

I totally disagree with all the mandates we live in what is supposed to be a democratic country but what this is you could call segregation. I am not anti Vax I have had both jabs in August but I think a person has a right of choice.


Terrible

Posted on 19-11-2021 10:03 | By Slim Shady

It’s a significant number of staff out of an already depleted and woefully inadequate health system. New Zealand is going to regret its isolationism. The Government will spin like mad to convince the brainwashed that it can manage but anybody who needs health care for ANY reason will find the truth revealed.


@numberonekiwi

Posted on 20-11-2021 13:48 | By morepork

It is not debatable that people have a right of choice. Of course, they do. Forcing needles into people is morally and ethically unacceptable. BUT, those rules only hold as long as NOBODY ELSE CAN BE HARMED, BY YOUR PERSONAL DECISION. In that case, you either change your mind and "go with the flow", or, you opt out of the society almost completely and accept being part of a less privileged underclass. The "mandate" for vax is a last resort when it looks like the levels of voluntary vax to protect the community will not be achieved. Some occupations and professions are a front-line distribution point for the virus if practitioners are NOT vaccinated. Even though vax does not provide 100% protection, it is still WAY better than NO protection and so, it must be mandated, for some situations, even though we don't like that. Thanks for getting vaxxed.


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