Chemotherapy and surgeries delayed as nurses strike

There are longer waits across emergency departments and chemotherapy and elective surgeries are cancelled as NSW nurses and midwives walk off the job for 24 hours in pay dispute.

Chemotherapy and elective surgeries will be cancelled across the state’s hospitals today as nurses and midwives walk off the job for 24 hours.

More than 500 planned surgeries have been rescheduled with more than 100 hospital beds across the health system temporarily closed.

Health authorities have warned of significant delays in emergency wards across the with delays and cancellations across multiple clinical services.

Chemotherapy sessions, endoscopies, cardiac catheter labs, medical imaging, dialysis and mental health services have had to be limited by the strike action.

The Nurses and Midwives Association is asking for a 15 per cent pay rise over a single year, which the Minns government has rejected. Thousands of nurses will rally outside NSW parliament at midday.

NSW Nurses and Midwives will walk off the job for 24 hour today Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Today’s strike action has been deemed illegal by the Industrial Relations Commission, due to its concerns on the significant impact on patients.

Instead the industrial umpire suggested the government pay the nurses an immediate increase of three per cent while they continue bargaining in return for calling off today’s strike action.

The union declined this offer.

Minimal, life-preserving staffing will be in place at public hospitals and health services during the strike. Emergency surgeries will still take place.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the government had told nurses a 15 per cent pay increase in one year was too high.

“I’m very concerned about the impact this will have on the lives and treatment and health services available today,” he said.

Health Minister Ryan Park Picture:NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

“People are going to have important surgery cancelled today – they’re people often with chronic conditions, they’re people that may have been waiting at home in pain for a significant period of time.

“It is going to have an impact on the ability for people to move in and through the hospital that need treatment during the day or may be looking to get discharged.”

NSW Health deputy secretary Matthew Daley said a centralised operations centre had been established to manage escalations of care, but that with thousands of nurses walking off the job there would be serious impacts to care.

“For those less acute conditions please look for alternate means,” he said, saying less acute patients should call HealthDirect.

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Shaye Candish said the government had not made a genuine attempt to negotiate with the union.

“The state government could have stopped this industrial action from occurring by coming to the table with an improved offer, but it has chosen to ignore us repeatedly,” said Ms Candish.

“Nurses and midwives are outraged by the government’s unwillingness to negotiate beyond its insulting 3% offer, especially since we found the savings to fund the pay rise.

“If the government doesn’t heed our warnings and deliver a decent pay increase, we will see more nurses and midwives leave the system, and patients will be the ones to suffer the consequences.”

Originally published as Chemotherapy and surgeries delayed as nurses strike