Workplace News
Public health promise was broken
Healthscope has failed to live up to its commitments to the community served by Northern Beaches Hospital, said NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes.
He said the Berejiklian government promised locals their new hospital would offer the same level of care as any equivalent public hospital in NSW.
“The Berejiklian government’s claims have turned out to be false,” he said.
“Healthscope is shifting away from the government’s promise, just two years into their 20-year contract.
“It wants to remove minimum staffing requirements inside the hospital, pulling the rug out from under nurses and midwives who transferred across from the publicly run former Manly and Mona Vale hospitals.
“This means removing the protections of minimum nursing care numbers from the local community, which all other NSW residents receive.”
Brett said Healthscope was also refusing a 10-hour break between shifts, which aims to keep patients safe by reducing fatigue among the staff.
“Our members have also told us they’re constantly missing breaks within their shifts now that elective surgery is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.
“Healthscope also wants to strip back a host of other working conditions, including maternity and carers leave.
“The nurses and midwives at Northern Beaches Hospital want to continue providing a safe level of care to their community, but Healthscope’s plans will only make that harder.
“Research clearly tells us that reducing the numbers of qualified nursing hours leads to poorer patient outcomes.”