Bay of Plenty District Health Board CEO Phil Cammish is reinforcing the organisation's statement at the weekend that no redundancies are planned for nursing in the region.

At the weekend, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation warned job cuts may be coming for nurses in the Bay of Plenty as the DHB is undertaking a review of its nursing department.

The NZNO's statement said the reason for the review was that the DHB is facing a deficit of $8-12million.

Both the communications manager, Diana Marriot, and Phil are today rubbishing this suggestion.

'As a DHB we are committed to reaching our 2011/12 break-even plan whilst addressing the cost pressures all DHBs are facing,” says Phil.
'We have bettered our budget targets for each of the last six years and intend to continue to do so.
'Our result at the end of January was a surplus of $700,000, which is $100,000 better than plan and are anticipating a break-even result for 2012/13.”

Phil wishes to reassure the public about the quality of service the public can expect in the Bay of Plenty and says the DHB is focused on delivering the right healthcare for the community in a sustainable manner.

He says it is for this reason that every department at the DHB has been asked to review its resources, both in terms of supplies and staffing.

It is possible reviews could identify job cuts as an option, but Phil says no changes will be made that impact on leading programmes, healthcare policy or patient care.
'We remain committed to the Safe Staffing Healthy Workplace programme, where we have been both a pilot site and leading advocate.

'This commitment includes matching frontline nursing resources to patient acuity and need through the Safe Staffing Healthy Workplace supported Trendcare tool.
'Any efficiencies identified by nursing staff and the nursing leadership team at the hospitals in both Whakatane and Tauranga would never be at the expense of patient safety or care.”