Reports from the ANMF of catastrophic overcrowding and dangerously inadequate staffing levels at the Launceston General Hospital Emergency Department are incredibly concerning.
Access to healthcare in the community and at home is crucial to improving outcomes for Tasmanians and our health system.
The Greens back nurses and midwives who are are continuing their industrial action this week.
The Tasmanian Greens stand behind nurses taking industrial action today, and urge the Rockliff Government to heed the calls of our critical health workers for support. Nurses have been stretched to breaking point for months now, trying their best to care for the growing number of patients in their waiting rooms and corridors.
The Australian Nurses and Midwifing Federation (ANMF) is spot on: the staffing situation at the LGH over the weekend was diabolical and definitely unsafe.
'Get a grip.' Those are the words the minister for Health used last week when nurses raised concerns about staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital being asked to cover shifts in the emergency department at Launceston General Hospital.
Revelations from the ANMF that nurse managers are being trained to pat down and search patients for weapons are concerning, and the government should abandon this cost-cutting approach.
I rise this evening to draw attention to concerns that ANMF have raised in the last few days. The first concern relates to what ANMF refers to as wage theft from nurses.
On behalf of the Greens I’m proud to today launch our plan to fix the terrible shortage of nurses and midwives in Tasmania.
We really hear the pain of doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics and what frustrates us so much is that the Government has things it can do.