HUNTER nurses say Labor's pledge to overhaul minimum staffing levels in the public system isn't the mandated ratios they have been asking for, but it's a "step in the right direction".
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said they would scrap the current rostering system and replace it with an enforceable, minimum shift-by-shift staffing model from mid-2023 if elected.
The policy would see minimum "safe staffing levels" introduced to hospitals - beginning in emergency departments, before rolling out across intensive care units, maternity wards and other areas. It would cost $175 million over four years.
"Our health system was in crisis before the pandemic, but after getting us through multiple waves of COVID-19, we owe it to our health workers to fix this," Mr Minns said.
Hunter nurses have welcomed the announcement. But Rachel Hughes, the secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association John Hunter Hospital branch, said there were still critical areas that had no commitment to safer staffing.
"It is a good start, and definitely a step in the right direction towards better working conditions and retention of staff," she said. "But it doesn't include any commitments to babies being counted in patient numbers, or any staffing commitments to neonatal intensive care units, theatres or paediatric departments.... If Labor are confident they can afford these reforms, why won't the LNP commit to the same?"
The proposal would mean there would be one nurse for every three patients in the emergency department; one to four on medical and surgical wards; and one midwife to every three mothers.
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