Hospital and Health Boards Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2016 (Qld)

1   Short title

This regulation may be cited as the Hospital and Health Boards Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2016 .

2   Commencement

This regulation commences on 1 July 2016.

3   Regulation amended

This regulation amends the Hospital and Health Boards Regulation 2012 .

4   Insertion of new pt 6A

After part 6—
insert—

Part 6A    Nurse-to-patient and midwife-to-patient ratios

30A   References to shifts

(1)In this part—

(a)the morning shift for a ward is the shift ordinarily worked by nurses or midwives in the ward that mostly falls between 7a.m. and 3p.m.; and

(b)the afternoon shift for a ward is the shift ordinarily worked by nurses or midwives in the ward that mostly falls between 3p.m. and 11p.m.; and

(c)the night shift for a ward is the shift ordinarily worked by nurses or midwives in the ward that mostly falls between 11p.m. and 7a.m.

(2)However—

(a)if a shift falls equally across the periods mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (b), it is taken to be an afternoon shift; and

Example—

A shift from 11a.m. to 7p.m. is an afternoon shift.

(b)if a shift falls equally across the periods mentioned in subsection (1)(b) and (c), it is taken to be a night shift; and

(c)if a shift falls equally across the periods mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (c), it is taken to be a morning shift.

30B   Nurse-to-patient and midwife-to-patient ratios applying to particular acute adult wards—Act, s 138B

(1)This section applies in relation to an acute adult ward in a public sector health service facility if, in the table in schedule 2A—

(a)the facility is listed in the first column; and

(b)a dot point appears opposite the facility in the column for the type of ward.

(2)The minimum number of nurses or midwives who must be engaged in delivering health services to patients in the ward is—

(a)for the morning shift—the number of patients divided by 4; or

(b)for the afternoon shift—the number of patients divided by 4; or

(c)for the night shift—the number of patients divided by 7.

(3)If the number worked out under subsection (2) is less than 1, the number is taken to be 1.

(4)Otherwise, if the number worked out under subsection (2) is not a whole number, the number must be rounded to the nearest whole number (rounding one-half downwards).

Example—

For the morning shift in a ward with 7 patients, the number worked out under subsection (2)(a) is 1.75, so the minimum number of nurses or midwives required is 2.

(5)In this section—

acute adult ward means an acute ward in which health services are provided to adult patients.

5   Insertion of new sch 2A

After schedule 2—
insert—

Schedule 2A Wards subject to minimum nurse-to-patient and midwife-to-patient ratios

section 30B

Public sector health service facility	Acute adult ward
	Medical	Surgical	Mental Health
Atherton Hospital	●	●
Bundaberg Hospital	●	●
Caboolture Hospital	●	●
Cairns Hospital	●	●
Caloundra Hospital	●
Gladstone Hospital	●	●
Gold Coast University Hospital	●	●
Gympie Hospital	●
Hervey Bay Hospital	●	●
Innisfail Hospital	●	●
Ipswich Hospital	●	●
Logan Hospital	●	●
Mackay Hospital	●	●
Mareeba Hospital	●
Mount Isa Hospital	●	●
Nambour Hospital	●	●
Prince Charles Hospital	●	●
Princess Alexandra Hospital	●	●	●
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital	●	●
Redcliffe Hospital	●	●
Redland Hospital	●	●
Robina Hospital	●	●
Rockhampton Hospital	●	●
Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital	●	●	●
Toowoomba Hospital	●	●
Townsville Hospital	●	●
Warwick Hospital	●	●

6   Amendment of sch 6 (Dictionary)

Schedule 6—
insert—

afternoon shift, for part 6A, see section 30A(1)(b).

morning shift, for part 6A, see section 30A(1)(a).

night shift, for part 6A, see section 30A(1)(c).