New South Wales nurses and midwives have renewed their calls for better safe staff-to-patient ratios, which they say have put a strain on hospital system in a confronting television commercial.
However, with the state election just six months away, neither the New South Wales government nor the Labor opposition have responded so far to the call. Instead, both have vowed to recruit more paramedics.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) unveiled a new TV commercial on Sept. 15, which showed an exhausted nurse preparing a hospital bed following the death of a patient in an overcrowded ward.
NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish said the scenario shown “is not an exaggeration” and is meant to demonstrate the poor outcomes when nurses and midwives have too many patients and “simply cannot supervise closely enough.”
Candish noted that nursing and midwifery staff are continuing to leave their jobs due to “unmanageable workloads, unsafe conditions, and low wages,” but the NSW government has refused to address the issues.
“We are fighting to save our public hospital system and to save our members from unsafe and demoralising working conditions. Nurses and midwives deserve better from the NSW government after more than two years of a crushing pandemic.”
In February, thousands of nurses and midwives went on a historic strike calling for better pay, conditions, and safer staff-patient ratios, with 30 rallies held on one day.
However, neither the NSW government nor the opposition have committed to mandate staff levels in public hospitals and health services, although a mandate is in place in Queensland, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Having invested billions in health infrastructure in recent years, the NSW government pledged a further $2.8 billion in the June budget to continue building and redeveloping hospitals.
The authority has also allocated close to $1.8 billion for NSW Ambulance to spend on new stations and staff, including 1,858 new paramedics, over four years.
It has also established a taskforce to look at professional recognition and higher pay for paramedics across the state.
Meanwhile, Labor has recently announced a $150 million commitment for another 500 paramedics in rural and regional areas in its first term if it wins government.
Consultation would determine where paramedics are needed, and they would be upskilled for intensive and extended care roles to ease pressures on emergency rooms.
A recent report from the Australian Bureau of Health Information (BHI) showed that patients were waiting for longer for hospital and ambulance services during April to June, as activity remained at historically high levels across most parts of the system after two years of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were 375,215 triple zero (000) calls for an ambulance and 333,927 responses, up 21.1% and 7.8%, respectively, compared with the same quarter in 2019.”
