SA Health has paused birthing services at two Mid North hospitals due to a workforce shortage, less than two months after doing the same at Kapunda.
Until July 31, pregnant women who expected to give birth at the Crystal Brook and Jamestown hospitals will be redirected to the Port Pirie Regional Health Service, between 25 and 45 minutes away.
The decision was made “due to a shortage of permanently staffed essential midwives to safely cover all three sites”, according to a statement released yesterday.
“All alternatives were explored and there were no options available that could ensure patient safety,” it said.
Mothers expecting to deliver their babies at the Crystal Brook and District Hospital will also be sent to Port Pirie. (ABC News)
“This included using agency staff, attempting to source metropolitan staff, and bringing on existing community staff.”
Midwife shortage at ‘global level’
Eight expectant mothers have been notified and the department has urged anyone else expecting to give birth over the next six weeks to notify the Port Pirie hospital.
Both affected hospitals will still offer antenatal and postnatal care during the closure.
Speaking to ABC North and West SA Breakfast today, Yorke and Northern Local Health Network acting nursing and midwifery director Vanessa Ryan said the decision was made for patients’ safety.
“What we’re seeing at a statewide and national level, and indeed a global level, is that there’s a very significant shortage of midwives,” she said.
“We’ll have our midwives rotating through to ensure we have a safe number … and we can pull all of our resources into Port Pirie, where we have got plenty of capacity to take on increased demand.
“The women will then be discharged back to Crystal Brook or Jamestown hospitals once they’re stable, or they’ll be discharged home with follow-up support.”
The two towns combined have a population of roughly 3,000 without accounting for surrounding districts.
Dr Ryan said in the short-term, the health network is working on “upskilling and credentialing” midwives who had not practised “for a number of years”.
‘Difficult to attract’ regional staff
In April, SA Health also temporarily shut the Kapunda Hospital birthing services owing to staff gaps, diverting mothers to Clare, 45 minutes away.
That closure was scheduled for six weeks but has since been extended indefinitely.
Blair Boyer says the pause was “the right thing to do” because of workforce gaps. (ABC News: Daniel Taylor)
Health Minister Blair Boyer said he approved of yesterday’s decision, adding it was “difficult to attract staff to regional locations”.
“I really hope it’s something we can address as quickly as we can, but workforce shortages are difficult even when we have incentives to move to regional areas,” he said.
“Sometimes those incentives for some staff are up to $40,000 per year in additional salary … in the meantime, if the advice I receive as minister is that they don’t think it’s safe to continue that service, then this is the right thing to do.
“We are being conservative in our estimates of how long it will take and we are doing that so women who are making plans about where they want to give birth are not given an unrealistic expectation … and that changes at the last minute.”
