“I work in a small rural MPS in Holbrook where there is no doctor on site most of the time. We only rely on the Remote Medical Consult Service – a voice on the end of the phone – to support patients who may never physically see a doctor,” RN Jodie Beattie told the Minister for Health Ryan Park.

“But even that lifeline is unreliable. Phone lines drop out regularly, and recently we had no phones or Wi-Fi for over a week. Great in a resus situation.

“We’re critically understaffed. On night shifts we often have just three staff – one RN managing ED, acute, and aged care – sometimes responsible for 27 patients. We have no security onsite. One night a patient’s behaviour escalated. He shadowed me, threw objects and broke window locks to try and escape. I was told by security they’d ‘see what they could do’. No one turned up. I spent the shift locked in the nurses’ station, afraid to answer bells. At one point, I even lost track of him – he was hiding in a dark corridor. I was terrified.

“Management says: ‘just call someone in’ . But when no one comes – you stop calling.

“Now Murrumbidgee Health plans to cut four hours of nursing care per shift, saying there’s ‘not enough activity’ – despite already failing to meet the Award’s requirement of two RNs in ED. Your commitment was to lift it to three.

“Instead, we’re being told to take on non-nursing tasks like cleaning toilets. Really!

“Nurses are exhausted. We’re stretched beyond safe limits. And unless something changes, we won’t just walk away – we’ll run.”

Nurse Unit Manager Kristyn Wilson’s question to the Minister for Health:

“Will you commit to a workforce planning summit with the NSWNMA by mid-2026, bringing together key stakeholders and establishing a joint working group to develop a comprehensive 5- and 10-year plan that ensures that every community in NSW has access to the skilled nurses and midwives they need, now and into the future? Because Minister Park we certainly don’t have this now.”

Minister Park’s reply:

“Yes, I can in relation to the summit. Not only am I prepared to have that sort of forum and a summit, but I think we also need to be ready to build the next component of ratios going forward and that will be a discussion we have with you over the next little while. We’ve got a long way to go but I can assure you while I’m your health minister the workforce will remain my absolute top priority.”