Nurses and midwives across the state have committed to taking further industrial action to get nurse to patient ratios in hospitals and better conditions after the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association's 77th annual conference in Sydney this week.
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The conference saw experts from around Australia and as far as Scotland and the United States meet to discuss the state of healthcare and dealing with the ongoing pandemic.
Assistant General Secretary of the NSWNMA, Shaye Candish, spoke about the undervaluing of input from highly skilled professionals when health policies are developed and decided, especially regarding pandemic decisions.
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"The overwhelming pressures on nurses and midwives has never been more unrelenting. The uphill battle to have our voices heard remains, as does the need for your clinical insights and experiences to be afforded a seat at the decision making or policy drafting table," said Ms Candish.
Recently, the union voted to increase the requested pay rise to seven per cent, above the earlier request for a 4.75 per cent increase and well over the 3 per cent offered to public employees - which with inflation over 6 per cent in July, represents a pay cut in real terms.
General secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association Brett Holmes said the majority of members had voted at a meeting on Tuesday to increase the desired wage rise to 7 per cent, well above its previous claim of 4.75 per cent and more than double the 3 per cent increase offered to public service employees.
Kristy Wilson, the Griffith branch secretary for the NSWNMA, said that the situation hadn't improved.
"I can assure you that things have progressively gotten worse. Our ED is under the hammer," she said.
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She foreshadowed that with the Bush Summit coming up at the end of August, it could present an opportunity to make their voices heard and highlight the depressing realities of healthcare in the region, but that no plans were confirmed to bring up the topic.
The $3000 'thank you payments' to healthcare workers was also not as notable a thank you as it seems, with Ms Wilson noting that the vast majority had been taxed either all or most of it. She added that ratios were still the primary need, rather than money.
The NSWNMA have also announced the retirement of General Secretary, Brett Holmes at the end of the week after two decades in the role.
Taking over the role will be current Assistant General Secretary Shaye Candish, while Director of Strategy and Transformation Michael Whaites will step up as the Assistant General Secretary.
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