Anaesthetic Technicians Society president Matthew Lawrence says he and his colleagues are increasingly under stress as they fill holes in the roster. (file image) Photo: 123RF
A nationwide shortage of anaesthetic technicians is putting pressure on those remaining in the job, the professional body representing technicians says.
According to Te Whatu Ora, there are currently 98 vacancies nationwide for anaesthetic technicians, or ATs, which equates to 16 percent of the workforce.
Twenty-nine of the positions were at Christchurch Hospital - seven technicians in Canterbury quit in the past month.
Anaesthetic Technicians Society president Matthew Lawrence, who works at Whangārei Base Hospital, said he and his colleagues were increasingly under stress as they filled holes in the roster.
"It does put a lot of strain on each individual and each colleague and there is a lot of mahi that goes on, there's no two ways about it but yes, it does cause stress and burnout."
Listen to an interview with Anaesthetic Technicians Society president Matthew Lawrence
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons NZ national committee chair Andrew MacCormick said shortages got worse last year when AT training switched from an on-the-job apprenticeship model to a three-year degree.
It was a short-sharp shift, MacCormick said.
"So, we've lost a workforce, if you like, that were training on the job.
"Anaesthetists and the surgeons would prefer a model where we transitioned to the new training programme and kept some workforce going."
The degree in Perioperative Practice from the Auckland University of Technology includes more than 1000 hours of clinical placements around the country.
The Society of Anaesthetists supported the programme, which it said would allow more career progression for bright, young graduates.
But its president, Morgan Edwards, a consultant at North Shore Hospital, conceded it had made it harder for students who wanted to get work experience outside Auckland due to the cost of moving.
The infrastructure to support this was not yet in place, Edwards said.
One solution was for hospitals to pay students for some of their work as already happens in Te Tai Tokerau.
However, Frank Frizelle, professor of colorectal surgery at Christchurch's University of Otago, said the current crisis was completely predictable and at least partly avoidable.
"We knew the training was happening, we knew that the workforce was short, no one did anything.
"This is a predictable problem that there's been a piss-poor response from senior leadership."
He said only New Zealand and Britain use technicians, while most countries have nurse assistants.
"You can't import a couple of hundred from the Philippines like we can with nurses because there isn't a quick fix because we're a unique model - copying the UK. We've got to change, it can't continue."
Prof Frizelle said hospitals could not afford to wait for new technicians to graduate and Te Whatu Ora needed to look for alternatives.
Te Whatu Ora said the degree and diploma programmes were overlapped to ensure there was not a gap in the training.
A number of initiatives underway to boost the AT workforce in the short and long-term, it said.