The battle to save Maitland Hospital brought unions and the community closer together.

Jane Burton and Liz Featherstone were on afternoon shift in Maitland Hospital’s surgical ward when a NSWNMA text message told them they had won the fight to keep their public hospital.

“We were excited and elated,” said Liz, the hospital’s NSWNMA branch delegate. “The whole ward knew within a few seconds and all the patients were rapt too.”

Jane, the NSWNMA branch president, said the news “lifted the mood throughout the whole hospital. Everyone was so excited and relieved that we will be able to continue our careers and care for our local community in a public hospital”.

“It was fabulous news after a long, hard battle to get what our community needs and deserves.”

Jane said it had been a privilege to work with other unions and community members in the campaign,
which collected 25,000 signatures on an anti-privatisation petition.

“Our joint work has set a precedent for closer cooperation between union and community groups on health care issues down the track.

“I think the nurses’ passion for providing decent health care for our community helped drive every-
one forward.”

Great support from other hospitals

She said Maitland nurses received “great support’ from nurses in other hospitals – in particular, Wyong, Goulburn, Shellharbour and Bowral hospitals.

“When those hospitals succeeded in stopping privatisation it helped to propel our own campaign.

“Nurses from those hospitals helped us with ideas for actions that had worked for them in their communities and quite a few attended our rallies and meetings.

“We never felt as if we were standing alone.”

Jane says the campaign’s success has empowered locals to get more involved in community groups.

“It has helped to unite the community and brought people in who were not very active in the community.

“It has also strengthened our ties with outlying areas that send patients to Maitland – places like Cessnock, Dungog, Kurri Kurri, Muswellbrook, and Taree.”

Jane said nurses would continue to work to ensure that the new Maitland Hospital is adequate for the expanding community.

“A new clinical services plan is being developed and we want to ensure we get an opportunity to have some input.”

Liz said the people of Maitland now “feel more secure in their health needs”.

Community vital to success

She said a campaign highlight was the combined union delegation to meet Health Minister Brad Hazzard at parliament house.

“We came armed with facts and we were able to counter the minister’s arguments,” she said.

“We pointed out that our community is one of the poorest in the state and also the fastest-growing. New subdivisions are being built and young families are moving to the area every day because there is now easier road access to Sydney and land is cheaper.

“The new hospital will be built two blocks from an existing private hospital and it didn’t make sense that you would duplicate private services while abolishing a public facility.

“We were due to meet for 45 minutes but the minister extended the meeting and listened to what we had to say.

“I walked out thinking, we’ve got this. We all felt we had done a good job to convince him of our case.”

Liz said the community element of the campaign was vital to its success.

“Community members came to all our rallies and meetings, helped us to collect signatures and came with us to Sydney to present the petition.

“Local businesses were happy to put our notices in their windows.”

She said the campaign has “revitalised” Maitland’s NSWNMA branch.

“A lot more people are coming to branch meetings and speaking out more. At the same time, we have stronger relations with other unions in the hospital.”

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