The NSW Government has announced funding for small businesses and rebates to NSW households with school-aged children; however, it has failed to invest in our public health system by not implementing safe patient ratios.

Our mental health system has always struggled but it’s been especially felt during this pandemic. Mental health nurses have struggled through the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and have experienced the same issues as our nursing colleagues in the general hospital public health system.

NSW Mental Health units have reconfigured units to support the admissions of mental health patients with COVID-19, and we continue to have outbreaks within these environments. It’s been quite challenging given the age of some of our inpatient units, which lack respiratory isolation rooms, firmly closed doors, and have poorly ventilated wards and shared patient rooms. Compounding this is the issue of lack of resources available to care for any patient with airborne illness.

Mental health nurses, while highly experienced in caring for a patient with mental health issues, have limited knowledge about caring for patients with complex medical and physical conditions. When staffing is under-resourced, it becomes difficult to deliver safe, quality care.

Staffing has remained under-resourced in mental health units for years; however, this pandemic has immensely exacerbated this issue. Excessive overtime and unfilled shifts leave a trail of exhausted and burnt-out nursing staff, and an overwhelmed system that simply cannot provide safe and adequate patient care.

It’s time for this government to invest in the public health system and implement safe staffing ratios.

Francesca Cavallaro, EN