Doctors, nurses plan action against State Government’s decision to close beds at Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals
NURSES will not admit patients to hospital wards unless they can be placed in spaces that cater to their specific needs as part of a range of serious actions following bed closure announcements at two public hospitals.
- Dozens of beds to close at RAH and QEH
- Health chief: Transforming Health ‘a house of straw’
- Claims bed closures will cause ‘up to three deaths a month’
NURSES will not accept patient admissions to hospital wards unless they can be placed in spaces that cater to their specific needs as part of a range of serious actions following bed closure announcements at two major public hospitals.
Members of the state’s peak nurses union on Wednesday overwhelmingly agreed to take “professional action” from Saturday - including wearing purple to support patient safety.
They are urging the State Government to reverse its decision to close 55 beds across the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals, including 16 beds in a general medical ward at the RAH.
It comes as “angry” and “baffled” doctors met on Tuesday night at a meeting at the RAH.
Speaking after the meeting, Australian Medical Association (SA) president Dr Janice Fletcher called on the government to reverse its bed closure decision.
“This latest insult to our medical workforce further demonstrates the total breakdown in communication between the government, SA Health and our senior doctors and nurses,” she said.
“SA Health have shown no evidence of competence in this latest failure, and the recently leaked email from a senior clinical leader within SA Health, which is widely supported by doctors, demonstrates just how off the rails the initial Transforming Health planning has gone.
“Budget priorities are now trumping patient safety in health decision making.”
Dr Fletcher urged Mr Snelling to openly consult “face to face” with clinicians in the future.
“We need to see a change from the very top, all the way down,” she said.
The Opposition on Wednesday renewed calls to sack Health Minister Jack Snelling following mounting concerns from medical staff about the state’s under-fire health system.
But Mr Snelling told The Advertiser “it’s not unusual for unions and employers to disagree but what we want is to keep the lines of communication open”.
“In this case SA Health is transferring beds to the northern suburbs and community - where they are most needed - and we’ll keep talking to the union to find a solution to this.”
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA branch) chief executive officer Adjunct Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars also called on the government to “urgently intervene to overturn the decision”.
SA Health chief executive officer Vickie Kaminski said: “We continue to work with staff and the nurses’ union on the reconfiguration of beds at the Royal Adelaide Hospital to minimise the number of outliers”.
“There is no reduction to the number of beds in our hospitals.”
