Private Sector
Strikes win private hospital ratios
Nurses at two big private hospitals have won staffing ratios after sustained industrial action for a new enterprise agreement.
NSWNMA delegates at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney, and the Mater Hospital in North Sydney have described their winning campaign for staffing ratios as a great achievement.
Their employer, St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA), had earlier rejected ratios as “out of the question”.
However, nurses at Sydney’s biggest private hospital, Sydney Adventist, had already set something of a precedent by winning ratios in 2022.
Encouraged by this example, NSWNMA members employed by SVHA held their first strike at the end of 2022 and maintained a strong campaign that united nurses in industrial action across both the Mater and St Vincent’s Private.
Nurses voted for industrial action in secret ballots and held five rounds of strikes at each hospital.
SVHA responded with an offer of three annual increases of 3.75 per cent, 3.25 per cent and 3.25 per cent, and inadequate ratios for a limited number of wards/units at night.
NSWNMA branches voted to reject the revised offer, but management insisted on putting it to a vote of all nursing staff.
The offer was overwhelmingly rejected by 76 per cent of nurses and midwives.
A huge achievement
The NSWNMA then held a second ballot, which won strong endorsement for further industrial action.
This showed the SVHA executive that nurses were serious about getting a better deal.
SVHA then agreed to ratios throughout both hospitals, to improve staffing in all perioperative areas and an improved pay offer.
NSWNMA Branch secretary at the Mater Hospital, Deidre Duggan, described the win as “a huge achievement”.
“Initially, the executive was adamant they would never consider giving us ratios, so the outcome is a huge turnaround and it’s really exciting for us,” she said.
“It will make a huge difference for our workplace, our patients and ourselves as individual nurses and midwives.
“It’ll be a much safer workplace and we will be in a much better position to support and educate the new grads coming through, because our workloads won’t be as heavy.
“Previous offers from management weren’t up to scratch – we just couldn’t accept them. But overall, we have done very well out of this campaign.
“Our ratios will be better than what the Sydney Adventist Hospital and the public system have.”
Deidre, a theatre nurse, said implementation of ACORN standards would increase theatre staffing to 3.5 nurses, with an additional nurse working across two theatres.
Strong union presence
“It will be easier to take meal breaks and theatres will run much more smoothly. Plus, we will have more time to teach new grads,” she said.
“It’s a big step forward; our theatre staffing will be better than any other hospital in NSW.”
She said the Mater’s NSWNMA branch was now much stronger as a result of the campaign of indust- rial action, with about 90 per cent union coverage.
“Our campaign delivered new members, which in turn strengthened our campaign.
“The more members we had, the more people we could take out on strike, which gave us a greater impact.”
The NSWNMA had already raised its profile among SVHA nurses before the campaign for a new enterprise agreement got underway late last year.
The union acted to successfully recover incorrect payments and additional days off (ADOs) that had been abolished.
“Getting ADOs back for us was a big membership boost and during the campaign, nurses could see we were determined to make the hospital a better place to work,” Deidre said.