Nurses threaten to quit

By Lia Bichel and Nicole Williams
ANGRY nurses rallied at Dandenong and Casey Hospital on Friday before taking their fight for a better work agreement to East Melbourne.
About 200 nurses rallied locally before joining forces with others across the state to march from Dallas Brooks Hall to Premier Ted Baillieu’s office where they presented Minister for Health David Davis with a petition with 40,000 signatures.
The Australian Nursing Federation (Victoria Branch) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said it was the last ditch effort before the federation called for mass resignations. A Cranbourne resident who is a nurse at Dandenong Hospital and asked not to be identified, said she would tender her resignation if the government didn’t come to the party.
“The conditions they’re (the government) supporting will force thousands of nurses out of the health care system anyway,” she said.
“It we lose out on ratios and the conditions deteriorate, I will resign and people will leave the profession.
“If we get enough nurses together and take part, the government will open its eyes and realise that the public health service isn’t going to operate without us.”
Koweeerup resident Ray Murray, who has worked at Casey Hospital since it opened and at Dandenong Hospital prior to that, said the move was coming out of pure frustrations due to the lack of progress in negotiations.
“I feel that the government has not been receptive to our negotiations,” Mr Murray said.
“It’s something that we will have to continue. If we lose these working conditions, there will be a mass exit of nurses.”
Mr Murray said the nurses fight was not about money.
“The wage claim by the nurses federation is quite modest. Realistically, nurses would be satisfied with an offer around about inflation or slightly higher,” he said.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about the government trying to remove nurse-patient ratio and bringing in lesser trained staff groups. Our major problem is that this move will reflect negatively on patient care.”
The Dandenong Hospital nurse said nurses were fighting to ensure patients would get the care they deserve.
“We’re rallying to let the public know that we’re fighting for them,” she said.
“It’s to protect the pubic when they come into the hospital, so they get the care they deserve.”
Minister for Health David Davis said a mass resignation was not in the best interest of Victorian patients.
“If that decision was carried out successfully in February, it would have a significant impact on the safety of people in our public hospitals and the ability of people to access our public hospitals,” Mr Davis said.
“I would urge the ANF union to step back from the proposal to resign in large numbers from our public hospitals and to focus on the conciliation and negotiation phase.
“There is a schedule of negotiations and conciliations laid out into January, and they provide a perfect opportunity to reach a conclusion that’s satisfactory for nurses and satisfactory for the Government.”
Southern Health refused to comment as negotiations were ongoing.