Everything you need to know about the Victorian nurses strike

Victorian nurses have begun closing public hospital beds and cancelling planned surgeries as they fight for better pay. Here’s what you need to know.

A quarter of all Victorian public hospital beds have been shut and surgeries cancelled as nurses and midwives step up industrial action amid a pay dispute.

Here’s everything you need to know about the nurses and midwives strike.

Which hospitals and health services are impacted?

Public hospitals and health services. Private hospital staff work under a different EBA and are not part of these negotiations.

What services will be impacted?

There are restrictions on services including surgery, hospital beds, outpatient nurse and midwife appointments, hospital in the home, aged care assessments.

How many surgery cases will be shut?

Theatre nurses can shut up to one in four elective surgery cases.

Are there any exemptions?

Yes. Children and babies will not be impacted – paediatric and neonatal surgery is exempt.

Adults who need category one (urgent) surgery, or surgery whose primary purpose is to diagnose cancer, heart or neurological conditions – or any other situation (such as termination of pregnancy) where timing is critical to the treatment plan, will not be impacted.

Adults whose condition would “deteriorate significantly” if surgery was postponed will be classed as urgent.

Surgeries have been cancelled as nurses step up their industrial action. Picture: Istock

I have surgery tomorrow – will it be cancelled when I arrive?

The union is required to give health services seven days notice before shutting surgeries or closing beds, so hospitals should know in advance what can and cannot go ahead.

Will emergency surgery be impacted?

Nurses will not block emergency surgery – this is separate to planned (previously called ‘elective’) surgery.

How many beds will close?

Staff can also close up to a quarter of hospital beds, plus an additional two on every ward or unit – which will be deemed as “emergency beds” and only used for patients who will deteriorate “significantly” without care in the next 24 hours.

Are any wards exempt from bed closures?

Baby, children, maternity, cancer, end-of-life, intensive care, coronary care, high dependency patients and haemodialysis patients will not have their beds shut.

Geelong public sector nurses and midwives attending a statewide ANFM meeting at Geelong Trades Hall. Picture: Brad Fleet

What appointments will be cancelled?

Aged care assessment nurses and community health nurses will refuse one in three public health referrals.

Nurses and midwives working in the community – including hospital in the home nurses – will ban one in four new referrals. Babies, children, haemodialysis, maternity, cancer, end-of-life and abortion patients will be exempt.

What other measures will workers take?

– Stop work for four hours to attend union meetings (unless doing so would endanger anyone’s health or safety).

– Ban on working overtime

– Ban on recording ambulance off-load times at emergency departments

– Beginning and finishing work at the rostered time unless overtime is approved, in advance, in writing by their employer