NSW Premier Chris Minns announces working group to install 1 to 3 nurse-to-patient ratios in emergency rooms

Delivering on a key election promise, emergency rooms across this state will get a major staffing shake-up despite “bumps and hurdles along the way”.

Emergency rooms across NSW will be the first department where safe staffing levels will be increased, as the state government brings in one of their key election promises.

On Thursday, NSW Labor announced a Safe Staffing Working Group comprised of NSW Health and union representatives who will implement the staffing increases. This has been set at one nurse for every three patients in emergency rooms and one nurse per four patients in wards.

The staffing levels will be included in industry awards and is an additional promise to the Minns government’s commitment to hire an additional 1200 nurses and midwives in their first term of government.

Emergency rooms across the state will get a major staffing shake-up. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Health Minister Ryan Park said emergency departments needed to be the first areas to begin installing safe staffing levels. However, he was hopeful the new staffing levels would “change the way” hospitals would be staffed across the state.

“We believe emergency departments are the best place to start the reform because in a lot of ways they’re the front door for the public to our hospitals,” he said.

“They have been hit arguably the hardest over the last few years.”

However, Mr Minns warned that there would be “bumps and hurdles along the way”, saying the workforce was aware of the “recruitment challenge and logistic undertaking”.

“We need to do something about retention of essential workers in NSW, particularly nurses,” he said.

“That’s got to be our No.1 priority because it’s going to be a lot easier to hold on to the talented, experienced, trained-up professionals we already have in our NSW Health system.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns announced the Safe Staffing Working Group alongside Health Minister Ryan Park. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Shaye Candish welcomed the collaborative approach but said the staffing ratios would be easier to implement in certain departments over others.

“Doing that with experts in NSW Health is key but including our representatives from NSW Nurses and Midwives Association in those discussions will ensure we get a really robust approach that more importantly actually delivers for nurses and midwives,” Ms Candish said.

According to a March report from the Bureau of Health Information, in October to December 2022, more than 18,000 patients who received treatment in emergency departments and were subsequently admitted to hospital spent longer than 19 hours and 57 minutes in the ED.

Two in five patients also spent more than four hours in the ED, some leaving before accessing treatment, and 8.6 per cent of patients entering emergency rooms also left before finishing their treatment.

Originally published as NSW Premier Chris Minns announces working group to install 1 to 3 nurse-to-patient ratios in emergency rooms