After two years of hearings and submissions, a NSW parliamentary committee has handed down its report into Health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional, and remote New South Wales.
Dozens of NSWNMA members wrote submissions and shared stories as witnesses during the inquiry, revealing the shocking state of a regional and rural health system severely neglected by the NSW government. It’s evident how urgently we need safe staffing ratios.
All 44 recommendations contained in the report are important steps towards implementing change however, there are nine recommendations that specifically relate to nurses and midwives, listed at the end of this page.
These recommendations are a result of NSWNMA members using your voices. Currently, these are only recommendations put forward by the parliamentary committee. The NSW government will determine what recommendations it will adopt in their response to the full report, but they have until November to do this.
Regional and rural communities should not have to wait any longer. We cannot allow the NSW government to delay implementing any of these proposals. These recommendations are the first step to addressing many problems faced by regional and rural health facilities, but the introduction of a nursing and midwifery ratios system is critical to resolving the staffing crisis.
We need safe staffing and safe working conditions in regional and rural hospitals, including:
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