On 15 April eight overnight staff working at Rotorua Hospital had their cars broken into, while a ninth car was stolen. Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown
Nurses at Rotorua Hospital are lobbying for secure parking after a series of car break-ins.
Eight staff vehicles in the hospital's car park were targeted in one night last month - and another car was stolen.
In the early morning of Saturday 15 April, eight overnight staff left work at the Rotorua Hospital to find their cars had been broken into. All had smashed windows and one had the ignition ripped out. An additional ninth staff car had been stolen from the hospital completely.
Nurse Pam Kirk was there the night it all happened.
"There was a whole lot of glass everywhere... and someone had gone around and just randomly smashed car side windows," she said.
However, she was one of the lucky ones.
"The car either side of mine had been broken into but mine wasn't."
With understaffing, and low pay already being prevalent issues for nurses, she said it was a tragedy such a thing would happen to her colleagues.
"It's a real low blow, it's like a kick in the guts. We're just trying to do the best we can in the situation we are, and then this happens. We're protecting people - we want to be protected."
She said in the weeks following the incident, she was not aware of any communication to staff regarding the break-ins or changes made to improve the situation.
"If this was happening in management working hours, maybe more would be done. You just feel like they're not taking this seriously."
It had got to the point where staff had strategies for when they left at night, Kirk said.
"At the end of a PM shift, because there's different areas we park, you try and buddy up with colleagues going to the same area... and then you go together."
The incident is a part a greater ongoing issue at the Rotorua Hospital and staff are seeking some form of gated allocated parking for staff to help prevent it.
Notes from a meeting with the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and Lakes District Health Board show the topic of parking was brought up in May last year. One attendee said there was "huge concern about cars being broken into especially in the PM car park."
Te Whatu Ora Lakes said it would trial a change where night staff parked in the visitor car park which would be locked overnight. Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown
Multiple workers also said one of the car parks used to have a barrier arm, however it was removed over a decade ago due to renovations, which Te Whatu Ora Lakes later confirmed.
NZNO spokesperson Kerri Nuku said most hospitals have some form of allocated protected parking for late night staff, but not Rotorua.
"It's fair to say that our nurses are frustrated that yet again something might be seen as quite insignificant, but it's hugely important to ensuring their safety when they're at work and when they go home," Nuku said.
Nuku agreed with Kirk that management had not taken worker's issues seriously.
"I think the nurses themselves feel like their concerns haven't been heard and therefore they go to work everyday hoping their car isn't going to get broken into. If they did have confidence that their concerns were going to be addressed then they wouldn't be fearing that every night they go to work."
Te Whatu Ora Lakes spokesperson Hannes Schoeman told RNZ in a statement that the break-ins were particularly disappointing but did say the hospital provided some parking.
"Te Whatu Ora Lakes provides parking close to the hospital buildings for staff at night time and weekends. They are well lit and covered by CCTV. However, CCTV does not always deter people from breaking into or damaging vehicles."
Pam Kirk, however, said this often fills up quickly, and cannot accommodate all staff.
Schoeman said it will be trialling a change where night staff park in the visitor car park, where it will be locked overnight, but added that it cannot always monitor the whole car park.
"We are unable to lock down the car parks or monitor them 24/7 and it is necessary that a hospital site remains open and publicly accessible. Unfortunately, this means we can experience the same issues as other public spaces."
He added that more patrols were being conducted in the area, and that additional CCTV was added to particular buildings before the latest incident.
Since then, the NZNO wrote a written a letter to Te Whatu Ora Lakes requesting more changes be made to improve the safety of workers and their property.
Outlined in the letter it requested; increased security staff on PM and night shifts, better deterrents such as better CCTV that are being watched 24/7, and a better area with security tag admission and exit such as a barrier arm or similar.
In response, Te Whatu Ora said the issue would be added to the next district leadership meeting.
In relation to the break-ins, Te Whatu Ora believed an arrest had been made however police said the investigation was still ongoing.