More lower-grade nurses for NSW hospitals

NSW Health authorities say they are increasing the proportion of nurses with lower qualifications in some New South Wales hospitals because the facilities are being used as de facto nursing homes.

An ABC radio report on 19 December quoted NSW Health deputy director, Dr Richard Matthews, as saying that  a lack of nursing home places means many older patients are being forced to stay for long periods in hospitals.
Dr Matthews says these types of patients require fewer university-trained registered nurses and more enrolled nurses.

“If you’ve got patients in your facility who are changing in their nature, staying a long time and requiring aged care, then clearly the appropriate staff mix is the sort of mix you would find in an aged care facility and not the sort of staffing mix that you would see in an acute hospital,” he said.

But Opposition health spokeswoman, Jillian Skinner, says departmental documents show the move is about cost-cutting.

“It’s about replacing skilled nurses with cheaper alternatives to save money,” she said.

“The document that I’ve got is a Greater Southern Area Health Service memo and half the words in it are related to how much money this is going to save.

“I worry about the quality of care that’s being provided to patients in these hospitals.”

Dr Matthews says any savings made in the process are a bonus.

But NSW Nurses Association general secretary, Brett Holmes, says he is concerned the hospitals will no longer have enough registered nurses to deal with serious accidents, particularly in regional areas.

“It’s critical that there are sufficient numbers of registered nurses to provide that emergency care,” he said.

“They need to be supported by enrolled nurses and assistants in nursing.”