Angry nurses send government message over staffing, pay

Fed-up Tasmanian nurses have made three key demands from the government as hundreds walk off the job. LATEST >>

HUNDREDS of nurses have walked off the job at the Royal Hobart Hospital to send the government a message about short staffing, low pay and unsustainable workloads.

The 15-minute strike at shift changeover that crowded Campbell Street on Wednesday is the first in what was promised to be an escalating series if the government does not act to improve conditions.

Bearing banners and chanting “Retain, recruit, recognise” nurses filing out of K-Block were joined by Labor and Green politicians and supporters from other unions.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Emily Shepherd said nurses were asking the government to back their words of gratitude to nurses with action, and to live up to the current enterprise agreement.

“I think our members have sent a very strong message today to the Premier that enough is enough,” she told reporters.

Nurses Strike at the Royal Hobart Hospital Picture: Linda Higginson

“They’ve been extremely patient over the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic working at 200 per cent with inadequate resources.

“Today’s really sent a message to the government and to the Premier to say it is time to resource the Royal Hobart Hospital and the Tasmanian Health Service safely and to provide nurses and midwives with the resources and the staffing that they need to be able to provide safe and quality patient care.”

Ms Shepherd said patient care was suffering.

“The reality is the staffing levels here at the Royal Hobart Hospital is having an adverse impact on patient care.

“What does the government need to do? Ultimately, the government needs to address safe staffing.

“We know that on shift by shift basis, they’re not even meeting the basic minimum, they absolutely need to meet safe staffing minimums, they need to reduce the amount of double shifts and overtime.”

RHH Nurses strike Picture: Linda Higginson

Nurse Monica Werner said she and her colleagues were fed up working in unsafe conditions.

“We’re sick and tired of listening to patronising offensive declarations of appreciation when they mean nothing,” she said.

“We want to recognise our nurses with decent pay, comparable to the rest of the country and we want to see safe staffing levels.”

Labor leader Rebecca White was among those who rallied in support outside the hospital.

Nurses Strike at the Royal Hobart Hospital Picture: Linda Higginson

“This strike action today demonstrates how desperate exhausted nurses and health workers are at the crisis in our health system,” she said.

“The Tasmanian Government has taken a hands-off approach, we’ve got a part-time Health Minister, when this requires a full-time dedicated Health Minister to give it full attention, “Unfortunately, the government is so weak that we instead have the Premier acting as Health Minister at a time when we’ve got a crisis in our hospitals, nurses walking off the job, patients saying they haven’t got access to the care they need, and a government that’s out of ideas for how to fix it.”

Labor leader, Rebecca White at the nurses strike at the Royal Hobart Hospital Picture: Linda Higginson

Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said he acknowledged the pressure the state’s health workforce was under.

“It’s a tough gig to be the frontline of our health system,” he said.

“I do not need strike action to hear the voice of nurses. — I understand, I’ve read the comments, I’ve visited hospitals, I understand the pressures.

LaNurses Strike. Picture: Linda Higginson

“Strike action will put a strain on the whole system, which no one wants.

“I would encourage our nursing workforce — and indeed the union — to sit down with us as a government in good faith.

“We’ve offered to bring forward negotiations to talk about the next agreement, and how we can move forward together.”

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