Lack of money and the cap on administrative staff is putting staff under pressure, Dunedin Hospital's chief medical officer, Richard Bunton, says.
His comments have drawn little sympathy from Health Minister Tony Ryall, who said in an email statement that other New Zealand hospitals seemed to be managing with the cap and "there is an expectation that Dunedin Hospital will manage as well".
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell and Public Service Association national secretary Richard Wagstaff both said Mr Bunton's concerns would apply to other areas of the country.
Mr Powell said the Government's cap on administrative staff in district health boards had compounded an existing problem and now it was " biting" throughout the country.
Mr Bunton, in his report to the Southern District Health Board's first hospitals' advisory committee meeting this week, referred to the high demand being placed on staff in the hospital's emergency, medicine and surgery group.
Due to the financial situation and the administrative cap, the group was struggling to develop plans to mitigate risks this posed.
The high workload on clerical staff and the extent of the backlog of work meant typing of important surgery and clinical notes was not done in a timely way.
Mr Powell said it was ridiculous to expect underpaid medical specialists to become overpaid secretarial staff and provide their own administration support.
Both Mr Powell and Mr Wagstaff said it was time to remove the cap and allow boards more flexibility about the type of staff they employed.
Mr Ryall said the management and administration numbers in boards grew from 8000 to 10,500 under the previous government.
National had campaigned on capping those numbers and that was happening.
Finance and funding general manger Robert Mackway-Jones said the cap was likely to be reduced by a further 12 full-time equivalent in the coming year.
