south western sydney - Lamp Online

Rampant understaffing and an excessive number of vacancies at Campbelltown Hospital have drawn condemnation from a multi-partisan parliamentary committee.

A recent report by the Legislative Council Health Committee on the state of healthcare in south-western Sydney singled out the shortcomings of Campbelltown Hospital in addressing unacceptable staffing shortages relating to nursing and midwifery.

The Committee recommended that vacancies in emergency, midwifery and the adolescent mental health unit be “immediately filled” by management.

Campbelltown was the only hospital to be named for needing to fill vacant nursing and midwifery positions. However, the committee also made recommendations around service provision and infrastructure in relation to the other hospitals in the region.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association provided a submission to the Committee in regards to matters of staffing, resourcing and the provision of health services. Many of the Inquiry’s findings mirror the Association’s submissions.

A Legislative Council Inquiry into the state of healthcare in south-western has found damning evidence of understaffing and under-resourcing, particularly in comparison the rest of the state.

The inquiry, chaired by Labor MLC Greg Donnelly and participated in by members of both the NSW Government and Opposition, found that health services and hospitals in south-western Sydney had experienced “historic underfunding” through the years.

Of note was the disparity between heath funding per resident between those in south-western Sydney and those across the state. For example, NSW Health’s budget had allocated just $1714 per resident in south-western Sydney in the last budget – more than $800 less per resident than what was allocated by the department in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

This disparity had led to negative health outcomes in the area, including longer wait and travel times for surgeries, and higher incidences of chronic illness.

The multi-partisan committee acknowledged that the area was a “fast growing region” that needed greater health investment.

Its 17 recommendations included improvements to staffing, better allocation of funding, and the development of a new health facility in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association made a submission to the Inquiry. You can read it here.

Rampant understaffing at Campbelltown Hospital draws ire of NSW Parliament

South-Western Sydney health system underfunded, under-resourced