I have been and always will be a proud supporter of our public health system.  But twelve months ago I had four admissions totalling over four months in my nearest public hospital and two of these admissions were the worst I had ever experienced due to the disastrous staffing ratios and lack of nurses to look after me.

There were numerous days when there was no-one to shower me and many other times when I had to sit in a wet bed until late in the day.

Medications weren’t given on time and infusions not changed when needed. Other patients were not being treated properly either with one lady only getting her neck brace changed once/day if she kept asking, instead of the four times she was supposed to get.

There was no physio available to help me and I ended up basically immobilised when I left hospital.

Nurses were run off their feet often having to look after a large ward, admit new patients and prepare others for surgery or transport.

I could go on about this problem as there were lots of dangerous things happening due to insufficient staff to look after patients properly but it all comes down to money and priorities.

The nurses who still turn up for work can’t continue to do so much longer as many have reached the end of their endurance.

If these problems aren’t addressed in a meaningful way, people are going to die because there aren’t enough nurses to look after everyone.