Illawarra nurses and midwives rally at Wollongong, Shellharbour and Shoalhaven hospitals on Thursday, as they strike for up to 24 hours to demand better pay and staffing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's the fourth round of industrial action this year, as they call on the government to guarantee nurse to patient ratios for each ward on each shift, like in other states.
Nurses are also seeking a pay rise of 7 per cent, which is well above the state's wage cap of 3 per cent.
As strike action ahead of the March election shows no sign of stopping, Labor's health spokesman and Illawarra MP Ryan Park says he has been regularly discussing nurse-to-patient ratios with health workers.
However, he will not commit his party to a plan until it can be fully costed.
"We've got a situation across the state, particularly in our emergency departments and maternity wards, where the situation is very, very dire," Mr Park said.
"We're in negotiations with nurses and midwives, as well as the health services union, about what we are going to take to the 2023 election campaign around improvements to staffing."
He said Labor would get access to the parliamentary budget office in September, when it would be able to get detailed costings.
"What I'm focused on, and what I'm going to prioritise is less about shiny new buildings and more about staffing and resources in our hospitals, because thats what nurses and health care workers have talked to me about for the past few years," he said.
"We haven't finalised what our offering [on ratios] will look like. We've got a challenging budget, and challenging fiscal environment."
Labor has been supportive of the union's nurse to patient ratios at past elections, but Mr Park said the state's finances had changed since COVID.
He also said he was aware other Labor governments including Victoria and Queensland had ratios, but said there was a unique "fiscal challenge" facing NSW.
"The state is not in the same position it was in 2019," he said.
"I'm not someone who wants to make promises and commitments we can't keep. We have said from the very beginning that we have to appropriately cost our commitments, we have to know we can afford them."
"We understand the pressures in hospitals - I'm speaking to nurses on a daily basis - but I've also got to make sure our policy is affordable."
NSW Health currently uses a patient ratio system which considers "nursing hours per patient day", which was introduced under the previous Labor government.
The health department argues this is a more flexible ratio system and says it considers the numbers of patients, their complexity, acuity and care needs - while also allowing for the professional judgement of nurses, nurse managers and workforce managers to adjust staffing levels to reflect the changing care needs of patients.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
