Nurses strike for extra staff

January 24, 2001
Issue 

BY JACQUI LEE

FREMANTLE — Western Australia's nurses made the condition of the state's health system a make-or-break election issue when on January 15 and 16 they struck, refusing to open beds unless staffing levels were increased.

The industrial action closed 67 beds, resulting in the cancellation of 45 elective operations in five public hospitals, before the government forced the nurses' union, the Australian Nursing Federation, into the Industrial Relations Commission. The commission ordered the ANF to re-open the closed beds.

Nurses were motivated primarily by concerns about serious understaffing. WA's public health system has been starved of funds in recent years, resulting in poor pay, excessive workloads and stress levels and a flood of nurses leaving the profession.

The union is aiming for a four to one ratio for acutely ill patients to nurses; currently the ratio at times approaches ten to one.

After nurses began industrial action, the government offered them a 13.5% pay rise over three years that will cost $111 million, $68 million more than it was prepared to pay last year.

But the day after they lifted the bans, public hospitals were told that $5.6 million would be slashed from their already stretched budgets in the next six months to help pay for community health services. The Australian Medical Association, representing doctors, has attacked the cuts and warned that delivery of hospital services could be affected.

Nurses in all three major hospitals voted reluctantly to re-open beds while talks continue. But they have refused to vote on the pay rise until conditions are also addressed and are prepared to close beds again if improvements in both pay and conditions are not offered in the next two weeks.

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