Nurses and midwives are standing together, putting quality and safety for patients first and seeking solutions to the current understaffing and high patient workloads at St Vincent's Private Hospitals.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch) has been negotiating nurses' and midwives' wages and conditions for members at St Vincent's Private Hospitals in Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Werribee and Kew.
While there have been some improvements to pay and conditions offered, St Vincent's Private management continue to refuse to address ANMF's claim for improved patient safety, addressing understaffing and high patient workloads by introducing mandated, minimum nurse/midwife patient ratios across its four hospitals.
Victorian public hospitals have had minimum ratios in the enterprise agreement since 2001 and in legislation since 2015. The Victorian Government has legislated further improvements, and additional increases will occur in the current term. There are years of research that indicate higher numbers of nurses and midwives to patients improves quality and safety of patient care, reducing incidents of patient complications and even patient deaths.
In 2023, St Vincent's Private Hospitals agreed to ratios in their NSW enterprise agreement for St Vincent's Private Hospital, Sydney; Mater Hospital, North Sydney; and St Vincent's Private Hospital, Griffith.
In addition to the action at St Vincent's Private Hospital, ANMF (Vic Branch) is negotiating with a number of private hospitals across Victoria, including with Healthe Care where members have commenced Protected Industrial Action today with a major focus on maintaining safe and quality patient care through improved staffing and reduced workloads.
ANMF regularly hears from private hospitals that they are underfunded by private health insurers. In response to this and the record profits listed by private health insurers, ANMF (Vic Branch) has started a petition calling on private health insurers to pay their fair share to private hospitals so the hospitals can pay decent wages and provide safe staffing and in turn ensure that private hospital patients can continue to receive safe and high-quality nursing and midwifery care.
ANMF (Vic Branch) Acting Secretary Madeleine Harradence said 'Hundreds of St Vincent's Private Hospitals nurses and midwives have courageously taken this unprecedented action, regardless of pressure they are under from their employer, because they want to make sure they have the time and resources to deliver the level of care that patients deserve.
'Patients paying high health insurance fees would be surprised to learn there are fewer nurses caring for them on the wards at St Vincent's Private Hospitals than at the public St Vincent's Hospital.
'A surgical ward at the public St Vincent's Hospital must roster at least one nurse for every four patients on the morning and afternoon shift, but the same specialty at St Vincent's Private Hospitals could have a nurse caring for five, six or more patients. A public sector post-natal ward must have one midwife for six patients on night shift but at St Vincent's Private it is usually one midwife to eight or nine and on occasion it can even be one midwife caring for up to 10 new mums and their babies.'
ANMF is also seeking pay parity with public sector nurses and midwives including new and improved allowances and more than 40 improved entitlements and working conditions.
