Wesley Hospital nurses, midwives rally over staffing levels

Nurses and midwives at Brisbane's Wesley Hospital are set to rally this afternoon in a fight against what they say are unsafe staffing levels.

In an unusual move nurses and midwives at a private Brisbane hospital will rally against unsafe staffing levels and fears of adverse patient outcomes on Thursday.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union Secretary Beth Mohle said nurses and midwives at the UnitingCare Health’s owned and run Wesley Hospital want similar workload regulations that are implemented in public hospitals.

Staff at the Auchenflower hospital are also calling for improved pay and conditions as part of ongoing UCH Enterprise Bargaining Agreement negotiations.

Ms Mohle said private UCH patients were paying for quality care — yet conditions at the Wesley and other UCH facilities were not as regulated as those at Queensland Health public hospitals nearby.

“Nurses and midwives have repeatedly called for the introduction of nurse-to-patient ratios at The Wesley Hospital,” Ms Mohle said.

“They are deeply concerned about understaffing, unsafe workloads and the safety of their patients and colleagues.

Nurses and midwives employed at the Wesley Hospital will rally over staffing levels.

“However, UnitingCare Health have refused to consider improved safety measures and other conditions.

“In the first year alone, nurse-to-patient ratios at Queensland Health facilities saved 145 lives and up to $81 million. Private patients paying for care should have access to the same quality of care as patients in Queensland Health hospitals nearby.”

Ratios do not exist in private hospitals which are regulated by the federal government.

UCH owns and operates The Wesley Hospital, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane, ​Buderim Private Hospital on the Sunshine Coast and St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay.

“Nurses and midwives will today rally outside The Wesley Hospital to highlight concerns around safety, pay and conditions at UnitingCare Health private hospitals,” Ms Mohle said.

Private hospitals, unlike public hospitals, do not have to routinely take part in Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) negotiations with staff.

Staff at UCH private hospitals in southeast Queensland advised the QNMU they wanted to make change at the facility. As a result, the QNMU petitioned members and made an application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on their behalf. Negotiations remain ongoing.

“UnitingCare Health appear unwilling to acknowledge the very real concerns of their nurses and midwives,” Ms Mohle said.

A UnitingCare spokesperson told The Courier-Mail that UCH greatly values their nurses and midwives.

Beth Mohle fro the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union. File picture: Liam Kidston.

“UnitingCare Health’s offer under the Nurses and Midwives Enterprise Agreement gives our valued employees a substantial increase in terms and conditions; ensuring we continue to provide well paid jobs and safe, quality care – while remaining financially sustainable,” the spokesperson said.

“Like most providers, UnitingCare Health relies on payments from private health insurance funds. In the current high inflationary environment, there is a significant gap in the rates provided by insurance funds and the increasing cost of running our hospitals.

“UnitingCare Health’s wages offering for nurses and midwives of increases of 11 per cent across the three-year term of the agreement (inclusive of the 2 per cent administrative increase applied from the first full pay period on or after 1 August 2022) — is similar to Queensland Health,” the spokesperson said.

“Importantly, as a not-for-profit organisation, UnitingCare Health is able to offer much better salary packaging benefits than Queensland Health, which in many cases means the take home pay of an UnitingCare Health employee is higher than that of a Queensland Health employee.”