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After five hours of deliberations in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) last night, more than 150 nurses and midwives have been sent back to work inside Blacktown Hospital.

Orders were served against the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) and its members around 10.30pm for the strike action to end.

Pushed to the brink by management inaction amid serious safety concerns across the hospital’s maternity services, nurses and midwives voted at 4pm yesterday to walk out for 24 hours, and demand staffing is increased to safe levels.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said Western Sydney Local Health District had known the extent of the concerns raised by NSWNMA members for some time and failed to act, resulting in yesterday’s extraordinary walk out.

“The widespread problems at Blacktown Hospital have been well known by hospital management, yet they continued to exploit the goodwill of nurses and midwives and ignore the dire situation that is rife within maternity services,” said Mr Holmes.

“Our members felt compelled to speak out and demand safe levels of patient care is restored across the hospital urgently.

“After working understaffed for so long, these midwives are traumatised, exhausted and burning out. Working with a safe level of staffing is vital for delivering the best health outcomes for patients, as well as the staff.

“Our members refused to continue working in unsafe conditions or an environment that puts their professional registrations at risk.

“This situation urgently needs attention to make sure trust and confidence between hospital management and all the staff can be restored.

“We are therefore calling on the Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, to intervene and ensure adequate midwifery staffing and resources are expedited to Blacktown Hospital’s maternity services.

“Under order by the IRC, our members have returned to work, back into a dire situation that management at Blacktown Hospital can no longer ignore.

“The Blacktown community deserves access to safe patient care at their hospital and should demand nothing less.”

The IRC orders and directions can be found here.

Traumatised and fatigued midwives at Blacktown Hospital are in desperate need of relief from unsafe staffing levels, which are putting patient safety and their professional registration at risk.

Following multiple infant fatalities over the past 18 months and ongoing staffing concerns, the midwives have given Western Sydney Local Health District 48 hours to address their concerns.

NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said Health Minister Brad Hazzard needs to urgently intervene in the matter.

“The situation is dire and many of these midwives no longer feel supported, despite repeatedly raising their concerns with hospital management,” said Mr Holmes.

“Since 2015, births at Blacktown Hospital have increased 52%, while staffing has only risen 11%.

“Year on year, the number of babies delivered at the hospital has continued to grow, with around 4,100 projected births this year.

“Currently, they’re averaging 11.5 births every 24 hours at Blacktown, with often only seven midwives rostered per shift. Meanwhile, at Westmead Hospital, midwives are assisting with an average 13.7 deliveries in 24 hours, yet they have ten midwives rostered per shift.

“For the past two years, our members at Blacktown Hospital have been battling short staffing and workloads issues which were only exacerbated after they relocated to a new, larger birthing unit as part of the hospital’s redevelopment.

“Due to obstetrician shortages, midwives are being trained to take on more roles, increasing their workloads each shift. On a regular basis, they’re also prevented from leaving work early if they miss meal breaks.

“Midwives are often being rostered for multiple day and night shifts of up to 64 hours over seven days, despite 56 hours being the maximum.

“Not only are they burning out with fatigue, many of the midwives have been traumatised by tragic deaths and believe the staffing issue has become untenable, putting their professional registrations at risk.”

Mr Holmes said the conditions were unsafe for midwives and patients, increasing the risk of further tragic outcomes.

One midwife described how many of them were struggling with the lack of support: “But most of us stay because we love what we do. We are passionate about our women and their babies. We are dedicated to them and their needs.”

Members of the NSWNMA’s Blacktown Hospital Branch are seeking urgent additional staffing while the Local Health District carries out a review of BirthRate Plus, the model used to determine staffing levels across maternity services.

They’re also requesting an immediate review of the hospital’s maternity services and calling for all existing vacancies to be filled.

Blacktown nurses and midwives ordered back to work

Dire situation forces Blacktown midwives to speak out