The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has officially kicked off its campaign for the upcoming ACT Election, advocating for more healthcare workers to support the Canberra community.
This call to action comes in response to a recent survey conducted among CPSU ACT members, with respondents overwhelmingly saying that their top issue in the lead up to the election is more healthcare workers.
With the new Critical Services Building coming online in the next few months, alongside the need to staff new and existing Community Health Centres and other parts of the service, more health care workers are desperately needed to make Canberra a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Health care workers include psychologists, medical imaging, social workers, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, dental assistants, dentists, wardspersons, Allied Health Assistants and everyone in administration that work to move patients through the service.
CPSU members across Canberra Health Services will be meeting with the Health Minister over the next three weeks to share their stories of understaffing and overworking and what this means for the average Canberran accessing health services.
Quotes attributable to Maddy Northam, CPSU ACT Regional Secretary:
"Canberra is at a crucial juncture where the demand for healthcare services is outpacing the workforce.
"Our members on the frontline, delivering essential care to our community, are seeing firsthand the pressing need for more healthcare workers.
"CPSU members and the Canberra community want to know that something will be done to address the growing workforce crisis in the next term of government.
"Union members will be taking every opportunity to discuss their concerns with the Health Minister over coming weeks to ensure that this election, the health workforce is a top priority.
