Safer patient ratios will attract midwives to the regions: Chief Midwife Officer declares

The state government’s plan to recruit more widwives and new safer patient ratios will ensure there is no drain from regional hospitals to the city, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says.

The government’s plan to recruit more midwives to service the new and safer patient ratios will aim to ensure there is no drain from regional hospitals to the city.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman introduced midwifery ratio legislation at the end of last year that mandates one midwife to every six patients including babies.

Past audits have shown that midwives would routinely look after 20 women as well as their newborns.

Queensland will be the only Australian state or territory to include both mothers and babies in midwifery ratios — a mother and her baby have previously been counted as one patient.

Queensland’s and the nation’s first Chief Midwife Officer Liz Wilkes said recruitment would be carefully done to ensure hospitals across the state are well serviced.

Newly appointed Chief Midwife Liz Wilkes. Picture: Liam Kidston

“Midwives have been campaigning for safe staffing ratios for quite some time. It’s fantastic to see this initiative being realised, as our midwives increasingly work with complex women who have varying care requirements. Ensuring appropriate staffing levels is crucial,” she said.

“However, we recognise that implementing safe staffing ratios cannot happen overnight and a carefully phased approach is required to ensure effective implementation. This approach will involve consultation with staff, unions and patients to ensure that ratios are implemented safely and sustainably.”

Ms Wilkes told The Courier-Mail that the new safer and more manageable ratios would likely

entice midwives to the health system, particularly in rural and regional areas.

“Additionally, we will be engaging with universities and educational institutions to ensure we can expand the number of graduates. This will help us recruit more midwives across the state in the future,” she said.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union has called on the government to develop a comprehensive midwifery workforce plan to recruit, retain and respect the midwives needed across the entire state.

“We are keen to work with the government to secure the best outcome for our members and for the communities they care for,” union secretary Sarah Beaman said.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman introduced the ratio at the end of 2023. Picture: Tertius Pickard

A QNMU Count the Babies audit found individual midwives were routinely being allocated up 20 women and babies, or a total of up to 20 individuals, at a time. And almost 50 per cent of midwives involved in the audit said mothers in their care had complex needs and required high levels of care.

In 2016, Queensland became the fourth government in the world to introduce nurse-to-patient ratios in prescribed Queensland Health wards. This roll out continues.

In the first year alone, ratios saved 145 lives and up to 81 million taxpayer dollars.