Fatigued nurses and midwives will gather in their own time tomorrow near Gosford Hospital to express their growing concerns for patient safety and serious understaffing issues throughout the facility.

For several months, members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) Gosford Hospital Branch have highlighted widespread short staffing problems to Central Coast Local Health District.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said the issues were compounded by the busy winter period and the need to open additional unfunded beds to meet growing demand on the health service.

“Local nurses and midwives feel letdown by the Local Health District for not adequately addressing their concerns or implementing long-term solutions to uphold patient safety,” said Mr Holmes.

“Our members have raised these concerns repeatedly yet the widespread issues still remain, including the opening of additional beds without additional staffing, an increased use of part-time and casual staff, as well as vacancies not being recruited.

“The nurses and midwives are experiencing fatigue and burn-out, after continually working short staffed. The rising number of vacancies is a major concern because it has prompted a reliance on overtime by the nursing staff.

“This has created a challenging environment, particularly as the nursing staff try to maintain safe patient care for the community.”