Latest news with #staffingissues
CTV News
10-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Regina Urgent Care Centre to operate with reduced hours for 3rd time in a month
Regina's Urgent Care Centre at 1320 Albert St. can be seen in this file photo. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News) For the third time in a month, the Regina Urgent Care Centre will operate with further reduced hours – before being outright closed for a day. On Friday, July 11, the centre will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, July 12, hours are further reduced to just four – from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. before being closed completely on Sunday, July 13. According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), the 'temporary' adjustment is to accommodate 'physician availability.' The health authority said residents who may need urgent care while the centre is closed should call 911 or visit the emergency departments at either Pasqua Hospital or Regina General. Staffing issues and service outages at the urgent care centre has long been a concern since its opening last July. The centre was supposed to be open 24/7 by this point. However, the SHA said earlier this week that it feels patient demand is being met between the centre and emergency rooms. Despite staffing concerns continually being raised by the NDP Opposition – the province plans to move forward with additional urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and North Battleford. -With files from Wayne Mantyka.
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Public servants' views on staffing, stress and job satisfaction revealed in new survey
More than four out of five public servants said staffing levels/work volumes was a problem. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Public servants say poor staffing is their biggest barrier to performance, and just 44 percent are confident their colleagues were hired based on merit. The Public Service Census is a voluntary survey carried out by the Public Service Commission this year, following on from the first such survey in 2021. Public Service Minister Judith Collins in May brushed off criticism raised by the Greens over her involvement, which included suggesting questions and wording to the commissioner. The approach taken in the 2025 edition had a much stronger focus on productivity, and removed questions around identity. The results showed 44,737 out of more than 65,000 public servants took part from 40 agencies - a participation rate of 68.5 percent, up from the 63.1 percent in 2021. Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said he was overall encouraged by the results, saying it indicated the public service was performing well - pointing to the more than 90 percent who believed their team was at least moderately successful achieving objectives in the last 12 months. He expected chief executives would make changes in areas where organisations needed to improve, highlighting some of those areas for improvement in a written statement: He said the Commission planned to run the survey again in 2027. More than four out of five public servants said staffing levels/work volumes was a problem, making it the top-rated concern. Some 49 percent said it affected them to a great or very great extent, a further 33 percent said it had somewhat of an effect, with just the remaining 19 percent saying it was very little or not at all a factor. The second-biggest barrier was complicated or unnecessary business processes (37 percent great or very great, 36 percent somewhat, 27 percent very little or not at all), followed by inefficient decision-making - including slow timelines or micromanaging (34 percent, 41 percent). Too many meetings was rated the least problematic, with 52 percent saying it was very little barrier or not at all, placing it behind siloed communication between teams, lack of access to the right tools, agency appetite for risk and innovation, colleagues not having the right skills or motivation, and physical environment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, public servants were generally positive about their work - with high proportions (87 percent) believing they contributed to better outcomes and providing value to taxpayers (80 percent), the vast majority (90 percent) saying they cared how their agency's use of taxpayer funding, and that their manager cared about delivering good value (79 percent). A majority of respondents felt they had more than enough work to do - 23 percent saying they were well above capacity, and 42 percent slightly above capacity, with only 5 percent saying they were available for more work. The vast majority experienced work stress, with 10 percent saying they were always stressed, 34 percent often stressed, and 42 percent sometimes, compared to 11 percent hardly ever and 2 percent never stressed. And while about a third (34 percent) were satisfied or very satisfied with their pay, about half did not or strongly did not think their pay adequately reflected their performance. Nearly all (96 percent) said it was important to them that their work contribute to the common good, with most (78 percent) reporting a sense of accomplishment, and enthusiasm about their job (72 percent), though fewer reported being satisfied in their job (62 percent, down from 69 percent in 2021). Fewer public servants (54 percent) said they had no immediate plans to leave their job compared to 2021 (59 percent), although the 2025 survey did introduce one extra option (want to do a secondment or temporary move in the next 12 months, 9 percent), potentially spreading the results more thinly. The two agencies bucking that trend - with fewer staff planning to leave than in the past - were the Treasury and the National Emergency Management Agency. The top reasons for people to consider leaving their job were a perceived lack of career progression (42.4 percent), followed by pay (39.4 percent), boring work (32.7 percent), poor management (27.8 percent), lack of training/development (26.3 percent), high workload (21.1 percent). Only 71 percent expressed confidence that their organisation was free and frank in our advice to ministers, meaning nearly a third (29 percent) did not have confidence in their ministry to be open and honest with their minister. The organisations scoring the lowest on this metric were the Ministry for Women (54 percent), Ministry of Transport (56 percent), Ministry of Māori Development (59 percent), Oranga Tamariki (60 percent), the Ministry for the Environment (62 percent), Ministry of Education (62 percent), Ministry of Disabled People (63 percent), the Social Investment Agency (66 percent) and the Education Review Office (66 percent). More than 12 percent experienced bullying or harassment in the past year - most of that (9.2 percent) being bullying, 1.6 percent reporting hostility or ridicule because of race, colour, ethnicity or national origin, and 0.8 percent saying they were sexually harassed. Most of the time the offender was a current or former manager, though nearly as many were underlings or colleagues. People with non-binary or multiple genders were more likely to say they faced sexual harassment (1.4 percent) than women (1.1 percent) or men (0.4 percent). Questions about bullying frequency showed that of those who were bullied, 48 percent faced it just a few times over the last year, 15 percent said monthly, 17 percent weekly, and 8 percent daily. Some 40 percent of managers said they did not have the support needed to manage or improve the performance of staff who were not meeting expectations, with leaders at all levels saying managing staff performance was a challenge. And 44 percent said they were confident that in my organisation people get jobs based on merit. Two thirds of employees felt their manager provided them with helpful feedback. About 79 percent said their team had clear objectives, and 84 percent said the team collaborated well, and only 9 percent felt their team was only slightly, or not at all successful in meeting objectives. The proportion who felt they understood their organisation's responsibilities under the Treaty or Te Tiriti was up, at 77 percent compared to 2021's 69 percent, as was the proportion who felt comfortable supporting tikanga in their agency (72 percent, up from 69 percent in 2021). Nearly three quarters (73 percent) said they valued their knowledge of te reo Māori or wished to grow it. The survey showed most (88 percent) were confident in their ability to learn new digital skills, but less than half (42 percent) agreed their organisation took enough advantage of technology. About a third had used AI for work, with 14 percent saying they used it regularly. The 2025 survey included several questions about flexible working, but the commission said those results would be published alongside separate working from home data which was still being collected. This would be released in late August or early September. It avoids confusion if these two sets of data are published together, a spokesperson said. The survey showed a decrease in the number of public servants who identified as rainbow, but the commission said this may reflect a change in the measurement approach. It remains considerably higher than seen in New Zealand's LGBTIQ+ population overall, at 4.9 percent of usually resident adults, according to a Stats NZ 2023 report. It also showed rainbow-identifying public servants were underrepresented at all levels of management, but age was likely to be a factor with rainbow public servants being considerably younger on average than their non-Rainbow colleagues. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Regina Urgent Care Centre forced to close early for second time in a month
WATCH: Regina's Urgent Care Centre is on regular hours again after being forced to close early on Sunday due to staff shortages. Wayne Mantyka reports. Regina's Urgent Care Centre is back to operating on regular hours again after being forced to close early on Sunday due to a physician shortage – which has spurred questions from the NDP Opposition. Sunday, July 6 marks the second time in less than a month that the facility was forced to close its doors early due to staffing issues. The facility normally accepts patients until 9:30 p.m. but was forced to close at 4 p.m. Sunday. The centre was supposed to be operating 24/7 last fall. As the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) COO Derek Miller told reporters Monday, recruiting doctors has been an ongoing challenge for the agency. 'We have been careful to understand the impact of recruiting physicians from community – away from family practices for recruitment of family physicians and also the emergency room physicians,' Miller explained. 'We need to be able to sustain emergency room services at the Pasqua Hospital and the [Regina General Hospital].' Originally, Regina's Urgent Care Centre was supposed to be open around the clock. Now the SHA says that between the centre and emergency rooms, patient demand is being met. 'We know that our peak demand throughout the day for urgent type services be it that are coming through the emergency rooms or the UCC we're covering that now,' Miller added. The province plans to open additional urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and North Battleford. The NDP Opposition questions how the government plans to staff more facilities given the situation in Regina. 'They can't even properly staff the one facility that they have open,' NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson said. 'You know, this is all smoke and mirrors.' The SHA says it will continue to assess how the Urgent Care Centre and emergency rooms are working together in meeting patient needs. The assessment will guide a future decision on Urgent Care Centre hours. In the meantime, physician recruitment continues.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legendary Chicago Restaurant Has 'Abruptly' Closed for Good
After more than six decades in operation, one of Chicago's iconic restaurants has closed up shop. Gale Street Inn, which opened in 1963 in the Windy City's Jefferson Park neighborhood, announced Thursday morning it was shuttering. The restaurant had previously hinted as much in an Instagram post Wednesday night, sharing a video along with the message "It's been a heck of a run Chicago, thank you!" This morning, the official Gale Street Inn account confirmed they are indeed shutting down, blaming staffing issues for the decision. "With a sad but satisfied heart, we have closed our restaurant," the post reads. Hiring and retaining quality staff has proven too tough for too long. We are tired of sucking, we have standards you know. But overworking our existing crew is not the answer. There are simply too many of you and not enough of us. Thank you to our current & past teams." Not surprisingly, Gale Street's announcement was met with a slew of comments from disappointed fans. The restaurant also honored its longtime customers in its farewell post. "Man what a run! Thank you to all of our guests for all of the years," they wrote. "To our vendors, thank you for delivering the goods, always. To the city of Chicago, we loved operating in the greatest food town on the planet." As for anyone still holding a Gale Street Inn gift card, the restaurant says it will devise a plan for reimbursement and announce it at a later date. Owner George Karzas told the Chicago Sun-Times that business at the restaurant, which was known for its steaks and baby back ribs, remained robust even up to its closure. In the end, it was the staffing problems that proved too much to overcome and led to the shutdown. "I'm tired, it's hard," Karzas told the Sun-Times. Legendary Chicago Restaurant Has 'Abruptly' Closed for Good first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 19, 2025
Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Ryanair demands urgent intervention as passengers face long delays and missed flights at major airport
Ryanair has demanded the Portuguese government 'urgently fix' staffing issues at airports across the country that have led to almost 300 passengers miss their flights. Europe's largest budget airline said the those that have managed to fly, including many travelling with young children, were being left to endure delays of up to two and a half hours. The problems are 'completely unacceptable', said Ryanair. Ongoing border control staff shortages at Faro, Lisbon, and Porto airports have been blamed for the issue, which are leading to 'excessive' queues. The carrier said that 'urgent action' is needed, especially during the peak morning period. It claims that during the two-week period from 26 May to 9 June, 270 passengers departing the affected airports missed their flights. Neal McMahon, Ryanair COO, criticised airport operator ANA Aeroportos de Portugal for the chaos. He blamed it for failing to ensure that 'adequate staff are in place to manage border control'. He added: 'This is not good enough, and the problem will only worsen as we go further into the summer season and traffic numbers increase.' Earlier this month, Portugal's minister of infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, attempted to reassure tourists, promising that issues around border control would be 'resolved within two weeks', according to The Mirror. Ivaylo Danailov, CEO of airline compensation specialists SkyRefund, is warning that those caught up in the problems could be in line for some money under European Union rules. 'When severe border control delays at Portugal's major airports cause missed flights, airline passengers may be entitled to compensation or rerouting under EU Regulation 261/2004, especially if the airline could have mitigated the disruption. However, he added that it's a 'grey area'. 'Airlines are not required to pay compensation if a delay or missed flight was due to factors outside their control, such as political instability, extreme weather, or airport staff strikes (which includes border control issues not managed by the airline). 'But, if the airline could have reasonably foreseen the disruption, for example, repeated border delays and failed to act, it has been known for courts to have sometimes ruled in favour of the passenger. 'For instance, they may argue the airline should have allowed more time for security and border procedures or co-ordinated better. 'Either way passengers have a right to care and rebooking.' Vinci Airports, which operates the three airports under its ANA Aeroportos de Portugal subsidiary, has been contacted for comment. British tourists have begun using e-gates at Faro Airport after a deal was struck with the UK government. Since Brexit, Britons arriving at EU airports have generally been forced to queue for manned desks to have their passports stamped, rather than use automated gates with facial recognition technology – leading to long waits, particularly during peak periods. The Portuguese airport has started the rollout of e-gate access to British arrivals after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed an agreement with EU leaders last month. It hopes the deal will smooth over 'legal barriers to e-gates use for UK nationals', once a new stamp-free biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) launches in October.
