Northern Beaches Hospital: Nurses, midwives launch industrial action for better pay, conditions
Claims of unsafe staffing levels and worker burnout have prompted a bid for better pay and conditions at the privately run Northern Beaches Hospital, where hundreds of nurses and midwives have stopped work to rally.
Manly
Don't miss out on the headlines from Manly. Followed categories will be added to My News.
About 300 nurses and midwives have stopped work for three hours to rally outside Northern Beaches Hospital, kicking off a campaign for improved pay and working conditions.
They took the industrial action on Tuesday in an effort to win improved nurse-to-patient ratios at the hospital run by private provider Healthscope.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association members’ demands, as part of enterprise agreement negotiations, include a 15 per cent one-year wage increase.
They are also after mandated nurse/midwife to patient ratios across all wards and units, a doubling of night shift penalty rates from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, and improved leave entitlements.
As part of a public-private partnership, negotiated by the previous Coalition state government, NSW Health pays Healthscope $600m per year, for 250 beds, to enable public patients to attend the privately run hospital.
Healthscope is responsible for providing publicly funded health services at the hospital until October 2038.
NSW Health’s Safe Staffing Levels Taskforce will examine whether the hospital at Frenchs Forest meets minimum staffing levels for nurses and midwives in public hospitals.
Following lobbying by the independent state MP for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, the NSW Audit Office is also conducting a “performance audit” to examine whether the hospital is “delivering publicly funded health services transparently, efficiently and effectively”.
Association general secretary Shaye Candish said members were “tired and fed up with the pay and conditions at Healthscope”.
The association’s Northern Beaches Hospital branch president, Sheridan Brady, said nurses and midwives were being “pushed beyond what is manageable”.
“Poor staffing has led to burnout and fatigue and the daily dilemma of not being able to provide consistent quality care has left us broken,” Ms Brady said.
“We get less annual leave, maternity leave and personal leave than the public sector
“Our patients deserve the same level of care they would receive at any public hospital.”
Mr Regan, who attended the rally, supported the protected industrial action.
“It’s absolutely essential that our nurses and healthcare professionals have the resources they need to safely care for every patient,” Mr Regan said.
The “teal” federal MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, who also lobbied for the safety audit, said the stoppage highlighted nurses’ concerns that patients were “not receiving the same level of care as patients in public hospitals”.
A Healthscope spokesman said its priority was to provide patients with the best possible care.
“We have plans in place to ensure business as usual at our hospitals while protected industrial action is taking place,” he said.
“We’ve made what we consider to be a market leading wage offer in NSW with improved conditions and have negotiated with the (association) in good faith.
“We have listened carefully to staff and consulted with them throughout the enterprise bargaining agreement process to date, and we will continue to do so as we seek an agreement that’s fair and sustainable for our people and our hospitals.”
Pain game! Stairway to rugby dream for Waratahs young gun
It’s a time he hated with a passion but this painful interlude in Waratahs young gun Henry O’Donnell’s life could well pave the way to his future success in the game. Tahs v Brumbies squads
Child sex offender found hiding in boys’ toilets at Sydney school
A notorious child sex offender — with a string of convictions for flashing kids — was found hiding in the boys’ toilets at a Sydney school, a court has heard.