Nurses and Midwives Call to Retain Support Staff
Monday 29 May 2023
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Tasmanian Branch, along with the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) will join forces today to advocate for critical support staff that have been a cornerstone in assisting with the increased workload due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stand to lose their jobs by the end of June 2023.
Whilst the broader community is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, despite their being ongoing cases, nothing has changed in the healthcare setting. Increased infection control procedures, screening procedures, equipment stocking and distributing as well as cleaning procedures remain essential to protect the community and staff.
‘The Federal Government provided funding to the Tasmanian Government to implement these positions as they recognised how vital they were to keep everyone safe and COVID free, yet rather than take over the responsibility for funding these positions, the Tasmanian Government has chosen not to. Placing patients, staff, and the community at risk’, said ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary, Emily Shepherd.
At a time when nursing and midwifery workloads are higher than ever, nurses and midwives are incredibly concerned that this workload will fall to burnt out nurses and midwives to complete, which is simply untenable.
‘The Government can not bury their heads in the sand on this, these support roles are critical. Nurses and midwives simply can not pick up the load, the Government must act on the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that appropriate staffing is in place to support staff, patients and the community’.
Media contact:
Emily Shepherd, Branch Secretary
Mobile: 0400 884 021
Email: emily.shepherd@anmftas.org.au\