A Right to Information document obtained by Labor shows that ICU nursing staff working at the Royal Hobart Hospital are performing hundreds of hours of overtime every month.
Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White said the new figures highlight how much pressure the hospital system is under.
“If you compare figures from April last year to the same period this year, there is an increase in overtime of more than 40 per cent,” Ms White said.
“It gives you an insight into how much is being asked of our health workers.”
Figures for April 2015 show that an additional 737.2 hours were worked by ICU nursing staff as overtime for the month, compared with an additional 445 hours in April 2014.
Figures for March 2015 show an increase of 45 per cent compared to the same time last year with an additional 659 hours of overtime performed by ICU nursing staff.
The overtime cost for ICU nursing staff for the period April 2014 to April 2015 was $401,420.
“The increased pressure on our hospitals is not only costing taxpayers more in overtime but placing an enormous burden on staff who are required to work longer hours,” Ms White said.
“The Government put a freeze on recruiting staff to fill vacancies six months ago and the result is now shown in the increased hours of overtime.
“The Government needs to realise it cannot make savings purely by reducing FTE numbers as it creates a false economy.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Health Minister
