Nurses demand proof of additional regional hospital beds

The nurses’ union wants details about hospital beds in regional South Australia before it backs away from industrial action.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Elizabeth Dabars says she will not support anything that requires family members to travel long distances to see loved ones in hospital. Picture: Dylan Coker

The nurses’ union wants more details about a plan for more hospital beds in regional South Australia before it backs away from industrial action threats.

The state government intends on making available 30 beds across 12 regional hospitals as soon as possible for disability and aged-care patients who are occupying acute beds within metropolitan hospitals.

Health Minister Stephen Wade hopes the move will thwart industrial action by frontline health staff who have called for an “urgent circuit breaker” to the hospital crisis.

Mr Wade said it would be the first step in a series of initiatives that would ease the pressure on Adelaide’s hospital network, particularly emergency departments.

“I agree with the unions that we need to free up space for acute patients in our hospital system,” he said.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said she was “very, very cautious” about the adequacy of the measure. She called for specific details and said she would not support anything that would require family members to travel a long distance to see loved ones in hospital.

“I’m not sure this is the immediate circuit-breaker that is required,” Ms Dabars said. “We need to hear more about the plan, but industrial action remains an option, but not an inevitable one.”

Bernadette Mulholland, a senior SA Salaried Medical Officers Association industrial officer, said the government plan lacked detail and was “difficult to understand”.

She said while doctors and clinicians would not take industrial action that would risk patient care, the association would continue to speak out about problems plaguing the metropolitan health network, in particular the $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital.

“We’re fed up repeating our concerns to be honest,” Ms Mulholland said. “Some of the issues we’re now talking about were raised six or seven years ago (with government) … we’ve had a fair crack at trying to work with everybody.”