Minns Labor Government to recruit more nurses for general wards

This phase of the Safe Staffing Levels rollout will introduce a minimum staffing level of one nurse to four patients for morning and afternoon shifts in general medical, surgical and specialty wards in NSW public hospitals, marking a significant step forward in improving staffing conditions for nurses and strengthening the quality and safety of patient care across the state.

The rollout will commence in a range of inpatient settings identified as Nursing Hours Per Patient Day (NHPPD) wards, including medical assessment units, general medical, surgical and specialty wards, such as neurology, respiratory, cardiology and oncology/haematology.

This is part of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to delivering 2,480 additional nurses and midwives for the rollout of Safe Staffing Levels.

Safe Staffing Levels has already begun implementation in 78 emergency departments across NSW, with more than 900 FTE nurses recruited to date.

Much like the first rollout in emergency departments, the Safe Staffing Levels Taskforce, comprising of key leaders from the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA), NSW Health, and local health districts will work together to finalise the first hospitals to rollout this reform.

The Minns Labor Government and the NSWNMA continue to work collaboratively on the delivery of Safe Staffing Levels, the most significant workforce reform in the history of the NSW health system.

The Minns Labor Government's recruitment of more nurses to the general ward of hospitals comes as hospitals face increased pressure, with people presenting sicker and with more complex conditions.

Over the past 15 years, total hospital presentations have grown by 50 per cent. Concerningly however, Triage Category 2 (T2) patients – those with serious conditions requiring treatment within ten minutes – have more than tripled.

This could include patients suffering from severe chest pains, difficulty in breathing or severe fractures. These kinds of emergency presentations have grown at a rate four times faster than the average presentation.

This means that as a proportion of total presentations, T2 emergency has doubled over the past 15 years.

Coinciding with this, in recent years, an increasing number of older patients are unable to leave hospitals because they are waiting for Commonwealth aged care placements.

This shift in hospital presentations means it is more important than ever that our hospitals are meeting safe staffing standards, but this could never have been achieved under the former Liberal-National Government’s approach to the state’s healthcare workforce.

The Coalition refused to introduce nurse to patient ratios; planned to cut 1,112 nurses; and froze health workers’ pay, causing severe health worker shortages in our hospitals.

The Minns Labor Government has made significant investments in our nursing workforce to ensure they are empowered to continue delivering exceptional care to patients and their families when they need it most. This includes:

Rolling out Safe Staffing Levels in identified key areas across NSW public hospitals, with a commitment of 2,480 full time equivalent staff over four years;

• Abolishing the wages cap;
• Delivering the largest pay increase for nurses in more than two decades and the largest pay rise ever for the lowest paid nurses in NSW;
• Saving the 1,112 nurses the Liberals planned to sack
• Boosting the nursing workforce by more than 5,000 full time equivalent staff in our hospitals;
• Supporting our future health workforce with study subsidies​;
• Helping attract and retain the essential workers NSW needs.

Quotes attributable to Premier Chris Minns:

“This is another major milestone in rebuilding our essential services and delivering the most significant workforce reform to the NSW health system.

“For too long, nurses have been asked to do more with less while our hospitals faced growing demand and increasingly complex patient needs. These reforms are about ensuring our healthcare workers have the support they need to continue delivering the highest standard of care.

“When households are under cost-of-living pressure, improving working conditions and strengthening job security for nurses is essential to supporting the workforce and the communities they care for.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Ryan Park:

“The Minns Labor Government continues to recruit more health workers and has delivered the health workforce a historic once-in-a-generation pay increase.

“Increasing staffing levels is crucial to supporting our health workforce and relieving pressure on our hospitals. Safe Staffing Levels is an historic reform to strengthen care for patients right across NSW.

“Our nurses do an incredible job caring for our community. This rollout has been designed to better support them, and in turn, their patients.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Liverpool Charishma Kaliyanda:

“Liverpool was one of the first sites for the Minns Labor Government’s major Safe Staffing reforms, and now we are continuing that work by recruiting more nurses into our hospital wards.

“Our local nurses work tirelessly every single day. These reforms are about backing them with the staffing levels they need to continue to deliver high-quality care.

“This will make all the difference for both patient outcomes and staff wellbeing in our health system.”

Quotes attributable to NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association General Secretary Michael Whaites:

“We look forward to medical and surgical inpatient wards receiving safe staffing ratios in the coming months.

“This is a crucial workforce reform for nurses and midwives who have been dealing with chronic staffing shortages in the health system for years.

“Ratios with the right skill mix will lead to safer care for public hospital patients, while improving the high pressure working environments our members face.

“After a decade of campaigning, we’re pleased to see the implementation move in the right direction.”