Hospital hit by nurses’ strike

ABOUT 50 Casey Hospital nurses took part in a statewide stop work meeting on Tuesday.
The local health workers joined nearly 4000 of their colleagues at the Dallas Brooks Hall in East Melbourne and unanimously voted to take part in industrial action.
The strike is in place in an attempt to pressure the Brumby Government to start negotiations and reach agreement on improving wages and preventing understaffing in Victorian public hospitals.
Australian Nursing Federation Victorian Branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said several Casey nurses addressed the crowd during the rally.
“The emergency department and midwifery area are under enormous stress at Casey Hospital,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
She said nurses at Casey Hospital were under increased pressure as the Kangan Drive facility was in the middle of one of Melbourne’s fastest growing corridors.
“They are in a very difficult situation as they are trying to provide care in the south-east which is growing at an unprecedented rate.”
Strike action includes closing one in four operational beds, closing one in each four operating theatre sessions, and a range of bans in community nursing, mental health services and residential aged care.
“Nurses feel they have no choice but to take industrial action to get the Government to listen to their concerns and to get the Government involved in productive discussions,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
“The public is already experiencing delays in our public health system because it is under pressure and understaffed and this industrial action may cause further delays, but nurses will not endanger the public,” she said.
Southern Heath, which oversees the operation of Casey Hospital, said there had already been some impact on its patients and the running of the hospital.
“Southern Health has developed a plan to minimise the impact of industrial action at Casey Hospital,” the spokeswoman said.
“It is difficult to state actual figures of how many beds will be affected by the industrial action as it is a fluid situation and the figures keep changing, however, Southern Health and staff are working hard to keep any impact to a minimum,” she said.