Nurses and midwives across Tasmania will down tools from 7am on Monday “for as long as it takes” as part of statewide industrial action.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has called the action due to “unrelenting unreasonable workloads, lack of resources and untenable working conditions”.
“It is regrettable that members have been driven to taking industrial action due to a chronic lack of action by the Tasmanian Government,” ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd said.
“Our members care deeply about their patients, clients and the community and their desire to be able to provide safe and quality care is being hampered by the unreasonable expectation of the government to continue to deliver existing and additional services with insufficient staffing levels and resources.”
The ANMF says the action is a response to “zero additional resources” being allocated to the state’s emergency departments following the government’s ban on ramping, which it says has simply “transferred the workload behind close doors into EDs”.
“[The ban] has done nothing to address the majority of ward and units across the state having to continue business as usual service delivery without minimum safe staffing levels all the while members are putting their own health and wellbeing on the line in completing constant overtime and double shifts, which are at an all-time high,” Shepherd said.
“Make no mistake, safe hospitals save lives and the ANMF will continue to advocate for this with our members as ultimately they are the ones at the bedside in the ed’s grappling with providing safe care in untenable environments on a daily basis.”
Acting Department of Health Secretary Dale Webster thanked nurses and midwives for their “skill and expertise and dedication and commitment” to their work.
“Tasmanians should be reassured that services will continue to be provided at all our public hospitals statewide and that planning is in place to mitigate any possible impact from the proposed action,” he said.
“We acknowledge the role of the ANMF in representing the interests of nurses and midwives across Tasmania and recognise that nurses are proud of the services they provide to people across Tasmania.”
“In December 2023 we signed and registered a new industrial agreement with the ANMF, which contained many improvements for our nurses and midwives.”
“We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively and in good faith with staff and the ANMF to address their concerns.”
He said the number of nurses employed by the department increased by more than 200 last financial year and 184 new nurses have been employed in the last three months.
“As part of the department’s ongoing recruitment drive aimed at attracting new recruits to the Tasmanian Health Service, we are providing a range of incentives to promote recruitment and retention.”
