Speaking at a rally outside Deniliquin Hopsital on Monday, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Deniliquin branch spokesperson said wages, work conditions and housing are often the biggest deciding factors for potential recruits.
And with local service hours being reduced due to staffing issues, she said NSW Health and the NSW Government have an obligation to look at what more can be done in all three spheres.
Staffing issues recently resulted in midwives being unavailable outside of a 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday work week at Deniliquin maternity.
With the recruitment of a temporary agency nurse last week, it has since returned to a 24/7 service.
But last week, a reduction of face-to-face hours for palliative care was implemented. A Finley nurse is providing the service while the unit’s sole employee is on extended leave.
Requirements outside the nurse’s available hours are being covered by a virtual service, and recruitment for a second palliative care nurse is ongoing.
Ms Dixon said the first thing that needs to be addressed to limit these service interruptions are wage incentives.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has been advocating for a legislated nurse to patient ratio of 1:4, as well as a 4.75 per cent wage increase.
The government’s reluctance to meet the demands has so far resulted in three nurse strikes this year, and Association members have promised rolling strikes unless the government comes to the table.
Ms Dixon said a housing incentive would also be beneficial for Deniliquin and district in recruiting and retaining the staff required to provide the services the community needs.
She also said investment in Deniliquin Hospital would go a long way to improving working conditions.
“We are trying to grow our own midwives and nurses, but in the meantime we need housing incentives for those we are trying to recruit from outside the area,” she said. “Deni is a great little town, and it would be great to have something that would attract more nurses here.
“The government also needs to pour a whole lot more funding into our hospitals.
“We often hear that these staffing issues are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this has been going on since before them.
“COVID is not the cause, it has simply shown the cracks in the system.
“It will take a while to get all our health services back to where we would like them to be, but we need to keep fighting.”
At Monday’s rally, local health advocate Shirlee Burge said Deniliquin Hospital “urgently” needed a $150 million upgrade.
She said this can only be achieved with community support, and urged all community members to express their health needs through MLHD’s Deniliquin Hospital health services plan process.
A community survey is open until September 4 at
https://bit.ly/3nknL79.
In person meetings will also be held in Pretty Pine and Deniliquin from August 18 to 23, with some sessions set aside specifically for the Aboriginal community.
For times and venues, and to register to attend, go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/denicommunity.
If you need assistance registering, please ask the staff at the Edward River Library, in Napier St, Deniliquin.
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