‘Amber-Jade, give us a raise’: WA nurses march on health minister’s office in major strike

That concludes our live coverage of the nurses’ and midwives’ strike. Thank you for reading.

As mentioned previously WAtoday estimated between 3000 and 4000 people attended the rally at Parliament House and Dumas House making it the biggest rally of its kind by the ANF in WA history.

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson’s office was contacted for further comment following the rally but declined to add anything new to the statement she released earlier today.

The strike remains in place until 9pm but WA hired agency nurses and called in staff with clinical qualifications to fill gaps on hospital wards.

Information is still scant on how the strike has impacted patient care in hospitals.

Emergency departments seem to be operating normally. Royal Perth Hospital is the worst-performing ED currently with an average wait time of 130 minutes for triage 4 patients.

About 400 category two and three surgeries have been rescheduled while WA Health expected some category one surgeries would also be impacted.

A WA Health spokeswoman said an overall snapshot of surgery cancellations data was expected to be available over the weekend.

WAtoday is still keen to hear from patients whose care or surgeries have been impacted by the strike.

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Nurses and midwvies at the rally outside Parliament House.Credit: Harriet Flinn

Nurses at the rally.Credit: Harriet Flinn

Nurses at the rally outside Parliament House.Credit: Jesmine Cheong

Nurses moving from Parliament House to Dumas House.Credit: Jesmine Cheong

King Edward Memorial Hospital midwife Kristy Woodleigh was considering leaving her profession a year ago but the sight of a sea of striking nurses at Parliament House today has re-energised her.

Woodleigh was one of thousands of nurses and midwives at the Australian Nursing Federation WA who marched at a rally in Perth to vent her frustration at the government’s handling of the health system and pay negotiations over the past year.

Nurses and midwives turned up to the rally in their thousands.Credit: Jesmine Cheong

“I will stay in the profession because I think this is really uplifting,” she said.

“I believe this is going to mean that we’re going to get change.”

While much of the nurses’ workforce at the rally wanted the government to budge on its 3 per cent pay offer Woodleigh was one of hundreds of midwives at the rally whose major gripe was how hospital policy considers mothers and newborn babies as one patient.

“Our main message for the government from the midwives’ point of view is we want all babies counted,” she said.

“What [the policy] actually means that midwives is that we care for up to 12 patients on the wards and we seriously feel that this is a huge concern for both the birthing parent and the baby’s safety.

“We’re seeing experienced midwives leave the profession.”

Woodleigh said when the policy is changed, experienced midwives will rejoin the profession.

Speaking outside Royal Perth Hospital ahead of the rally, mental health nurse Santhosh Thandy said nurses had been worked too hard for too long.

“We are not angry in that sense, we are frustrated because we are working too much [overtime] at the ward at the moment,” he said.

“We have no socialisation, no family life, we’re fully committed to work because we’re short staffed.”

Colleague Tahlia Osborne agreed.

“We think we deserve the 5 per cent over the two years, because we work hard,” she said.

“We’re not just sitting in an office like a lot of the politicians who want to make these deals.

“We work in mental health so we work in a dangerous environment, and we just think we deserve to be paid for the actual work that we do.”

Kirsty Hayward is a midwife of 20 years who has moved to the private sector.

She said the government’s decision to not address the rally was “an absolute joke”.

“It really shows how much disrespect the government actually has for us,” she said.

“You know, we were ‘heroes’ during the pandemic and now they can’t even come and address us themselves.”

The rally has now finished with nurses filing back onto Horizons West buses and back into the city.

WAtoday estimates between 3000 and 4000 nurses and midwives attended the rally.

As she previously flagged, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson did not address the angry crowd outside Dumas House.

Below are some shots from the rally.

ANF WA secretary Janet Reah addresses the rally at Parliament House.Credit: Hamish Hastie

There were plenty of clever placards in the crowd.Credit: Hamish Hastie

There were plenty of clever placards at the rally.Credit: Hamish Hastie

ANFWA secretary Janet Reah leading the rally to Dumas House.Credit: Hamish Hastie

The rally moved to Dumas House.Credit: Hamish Hastie

Nurses chanted “Amber-Jade, give us a raise” as they marched to the health minister’s office at Dumas House.

ANFWA secretary Janet Reah declared “we are making history today”.

“This is the highest gathering of nurses and midwives in Western Australian history,” she told the crowd.

WA nurses march on government offices at Dumas House in Perth. Credit: Hamish Hastie

“If this government continues to ignore us this will be the last gathering … because we’re all going to leave.”

Staff in Dumas House are watching the rally through the windows.

“They may have the super-majority in government, but bide your time because guess who’s up for election? The McGowan government,” Reah said.

Reah said a 5 per cent pay rise was doable

“This health system is circling the drain,” she said.

“Two per cent extra will attract nurses and midwives and make the government’s promise of nurse-to-patient ratios more achievable.”

Around 400 surgeries, including possibly some Category 1 surgeries, will be rescheduled due to the nurses strike today.

Category 1 surgeries are considered urgent, where there is the potential for a patient to deteriorate quickly to the point where it may become an emergency.

“On any given day there are around 650 surgeries performed across the WA Health system,” a health spokesperson said.

Nurses heading to the rally.Credit: Harriet Flinn

“Most – around 400 – are Category 2 and 3 surgeries many of which have had to be rescheduled.

“Some Category 1 surgeries may also be impacted by the ANF strike.”

Category 2 surgeries are for conditions that are causing pain, dysfunction or disability.

There are typically about 14,000 WA Health appointments per day scheduled across the system.

“Some of these – including outpatient appointments, mental health services and community health services – such as child health appointments – will be impacted,” the spokesperson said.

Before the rally decamped to Dumas House, Reah painted a bleak picture of the state’s health care system, warning recruitment issues would only worsen if the state did not consider offering more competitive wages.

“We’ve had massive problems recruiting staff,” she said.

“This government has not enabled a safe environment for nurses and midwives and their patients for over two years.

“We have record levels of ambulance ramping, and elective surgery lists have blown out.

“This is about future-proofing our health system with a competitive wage that can attract nurses and midwives from other jurisdictions.

“The government has given us ratios but without a competitive salary, we won’t be able to implement the ratios easily.”

The rally is now gearing up to walk the 400 metres to Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson’s office at Dumas House.

Premier Mark McGowan is in Collie today while Sanderson has previously said she would not address the crowd, describing the calls for her to speak as a “stunt”.

Clever placards get the message across.Credit: Harriet Flinn

One nurse fainted during the rally with several members of the rally jokingly asking whether there was a nurse in the crowd.

Reah signed off by saying the government needed to improve its offer or risk nurses and midwives leaving the system.

“This campaign is about respect, retention and giving our patients the care and attention that they’re not only deserved, but they have a right to this,” she said.

She also called on members to continue declining double shifts and allowing over-census beds.

Firefighters have been driving past the rally and honking in support of their public sector colleagues.

ANFWA senior vice president and senior Sir Charles Gairdner nurse Loreta Murphy has given an impassioned speech to the rowdy crowd.

She said the nurses and midwives had travelled to the rally at great personal cost.

“It’s because we care that we have taken these extraordinary steps,” she said.

“My heart is swollen today. I applaud all of you.

“This is not an easy choice. But for some reason this government just doesn’t care about the backbone of its health system.”

The union is now reading out all the nominees of the now-cancelled nursing and midwifery awards.

WAtoday political reporter Hamish Hastie gives a rundown of today’s strike action from the front line of the protest. Watch his video below.

Reah is now criticising the government and Industrial Relations Commission for their actions in the lead-up to the rally.

To thousands of jeers, she decried the IRC’s warning that it would penalise transport operators for picking up nurses and taking them to the rally.

She also blasted a decision by WA Health to cancel the Nursing and Midwifery awards scheduled for tonight.

“The cherry on top was the announcement last night of the cancellation of the nursing and midwifery awards night that was tonight,” she said.

“The reason cited was patient safety, what a crock.”