‘Feel like a failure’: Nurses walk off the job to demand parity with public sector wages and ratios

Nurses and midwives at one of Australia’s largest private hospitals have stopped work over low pay and chronic understaffing.

Hundreds of nurses and midwives from Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Private Hospital have walked off the job on Thursday, saying management has refused to address union demands for mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.

If implemented, the mandated ratios would bring St Vincent’s Private in line with the state’s public hospitals that have had similar ratios in place for decades.

The union is also seeking pay parity with public sector nurses and midwives who secured a 28.4 per cent compounded pay increase in June. It’s also demanding more than 40 improved entitlements and working conditions described by one Fitzroy nurse as “long overdue”.

St Vincent’s already has ratios in place across its private hospitals in Sydney as part of its 2023 enterprise agreement with NSW staff.

Nurses want a better deal. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victoria Branch acting secretary Madeleine Harradence said those paying high premiums for private health insurance would be shocked to learn that they’d be sharing a nurse with far more patients than they would in the public system.

Noting that the situation was even worse for midwives, Mrs Harradence added that while public post-natal wards must have one midwife for every four patients on a night shift, their equivalents at St Vincent’s Private were often caring for twice as many people.

“On occasion it can even be one midwife caring for up to 10 new mums and their babies,” she said.

St Vincent’s employs more than 1000 nurses and midwives across its four Melbourne campuses in Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Kew, and Werribee.

Strikers from the hospital’s Fitzroy campus made their way to Carlton Gardens at 12.45pm and were joined by staff from the other three locations at 1pm, although union officials told strikers that Werribee-based nurses were told they weren’t allowed to attend.

“Security had signs on the door saying they cant go,” ANMF senior industrial officer Leigh Hubbard told the crowd.

Understaffing is a key issue. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

When asked why the union rejected the hospital’s initial offers of an 11 per cent pay rise, Mrs Harradence said it was about more than just money.

“It’s not just about the money, it’s about patient safety, and it’s about safe workloads, and ratios are a clear and proven mechanism to achieve those outcomes.”

Speaking anonymously, one nurse from St Vincent’s Fitzroy campus said unmanageable workloads were destroying her mental health.

“Sometimes you’ll just have to leave a patient for hours because you don’t have the time when you’re caring for six others as well,” they said.

“It makes you feel like you’re a failure, but it’s physically impossible for just one person.”

With the hospital refusing to budge on ratios, many of the nurses said that they were considering leaving for the public system.

Nurses say it’s about more than money. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Scrub/scout nurse Tina Duparc said her department had lost “at least six nurses just in the last year alone”.

“We are burnt out, we are tired and we are seeking employment elsewhere,” she added.

In a statement released to the media, St Vincent’s Private chief executive Janine Loader said she was “disappointed” the union rejected the hospital’s two initial offers.

“As a not-for-profit hospital, St Vincent’s is committed to achieving a fair agreement for our nurses and midwives. We will continue negotiating in good faith to achieve this,” she said.

Hospital management will meet with the union on Friday when it’s expected negotiations will continue.

Originally published as ‘Feel like a failure’: Nurses walk off the job to demand parity with public sector wages and ratios