New Report Reveals Nursing Home Beds In The Hunter Are Going Unfilled

BY HOLLY FISHLOCK/ OLIVIA DILLON

A new report detailing the extent of staff shortages in Australia's aged care sector is shining a light on vacancy rates at facilities in the Hunter. 

Findings by the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) have revealed one in seven nursing home beds across the country are sitting empty. 

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says she is extremely concerned about the under-use of local facilities, such as the Wallsend Aged Care Centre.

Workers say the Local Health District has kept 68 of the 98 beds at the Wallsend facility unfilled for the past two years, despite hospitals and other services in the region running above capacity. 

"Those in the later stages of dementia, or that need constant 24-hour assistance, that's the place to be for the kind of quality of care that people need," Ms. Hornery said.

"It's still remaining open to the public and I will be lobbying and continue to lobby to ensure it is open to the public. It's a state government funded facility, which is rare in the state, but it does mean that all of the staff are under a state award."

CEDA has proposed accelerating the recruitment of migrant workers in the care economy to free up bed block in hospitals. The report says the government must also find new ways to financially support the aged-care sector.

Sonia Hornery says the well-being of aged care workers needs to be a priority, if more local services are to thrive.

"It's very important to ensure that nurses are supported, and all staff in aged-care facilities," she said.

A government spokesperson said it had responded by funding an $11.3 billion pay increase for workers.

Essential Hunter Workers Call to Scrap the Public Sector Wage Cap

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Essential workers from the Hunter gathered at the John Hunter Hospital this morning, in a bid to address issues surrounding wages and staff shortages. 

Ahead of the event, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey, launched a new report, detailing how much health and education workers will be out-of-pocket if the wage cap for public sector workers isn't scrapped. 

The research into the impact of the wage cap on the pay packets of essential workers shows it will leave nurses, paramedics and teachers worse-off by between $10,000 and $12,000 dollars when adjusted for inflation over 3 years.

It also details how the 3% wage cap is adding to critical staff shortages, noting vacancies for education professionals in the region have tripled. 

Mark Morey said something needs to be done. 

"We're calling on the NSW Government to get rid of the cap, and to negotiate wage increases for its essential workers," he said. 

He said scrapping the cap is the only way to address mass vacancies across the Hunter. 

Image: Newcastle Herald

Maitland Hospital in Crisis

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Staff shortages and mammoth wait times are causing a crisis at Maitland Hospital. 

New data has revealed the new facility had the highest number of admissions leave without treatment (2,481) in the state between July and September last year. 

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington, said the lengthy wait times are risking the lives of Hunter residents, and a Labor state government would address the issues. 

"We have already committed to mandatory safe-staffing ratios of nurses in hospitals, because we know that it's not bricks and mortar that save lives, it's the nurses and doctors, and people that work within them," Ms Washington said. 

"The Liberal Government has built this massive hospital, but they have just not staffed it properly."

Since opening at it's new site, the hospital has seen an 83% rise in walk-outs without treatment. 

Maitland MP Calls on Community for ED Feedback

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Maitland residents are being called upon to share their experience visiting the new hospital's emergency department. 

The call comes after new data revealed the ED has the highest walk-out rate in the state.

Figures indicate more than 1 in 5 patients who present at the ED seeking help, leave before they are treated. 

Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison, said the figures are impacting staff and patients alike. 

"The morale of the staff is really impacted by this because the frustration of knowing that people who go to the emergency department seeking assistance are leaving due to the excessive wait times, before they actually get treatment, must be devastating," Ms Aitchison said. 

"People who are in urgent medical need for assistance, shouldn't be going to an emergency department and becoming so frustrated by the excessive wait times that they just give up." 

"It's concerning for those patients and their families," she added. 

In response, Ms Aitchison put out a Facebook post, calling for responders to share their experience in the department, with some citing wait times of more than 6 hours. 

Ms Aitchison said it's unacceptable to have a half-a-billion-dollar hospital in the region, without the appropriate staff to provide essential services. 

"The government should have been aware of these issues well before now; they've got control of the data, they know what's happening in the emergency department, but have failed to make significant changes," she said. 

"I'm calling on members of the public who've been in that situation to come forward. We need their voices to make the case to government for more staffing."

Maitland Hospital

Paramedics to Escalate Industrial Action

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Paramedics will escalate their industrial action from Monday, in response to state-wide ambulance shortages. 

The action comes after the Australian Paramedics Association NSW announced there were zero transport ambulances available for patients in Newcastle yesterday. 

Illawarra and the Central Coast have also been stung by the shortages and had no vehicles available. Meanwhile there were only 8 cars available in the Sydney LGA. 

An overflowing ambulance bay outside the John Hunter Hospital on Thursday also offered insight into the severity of the region's healthcare crisis. 

Secretary of the Hospital's branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Rachel Hughes, told the Newcastle Herald this was a regular occurrence, with vehicles often forced to park on the road and in no stopping zones while they waited to offload patients. 

As part of the proposed action, participating paramedics not be putting patient billing information on their electronic medical records, making it much harder for NSW Health to send patients an ambulance bill.

They will also be refusing staff movements, which would see them relocated to another station once on shift, and are calling for an additional 1500 staff. 

State Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said the sector's lack of support is bearing fatal consequences. 

"People are waiting enormous times to actually get an ambulance. We had the terrible situation of a death of a Lake Macquarie woman who waited 7 hours for an ambulance back on the 29th of April, and she passed away only ten minutes after being admitted; that's a catastrophe," Mr Crakanthorp said. 

A 31-year-old Maryland mother also passed away last year after suffering from anaphylactic shock and waiting an hour for an ambulance to arrive. 

In response, NSW Ambulance is currently reviewing a pilot plan to use taxis to transport non-emergency patients to general practitioners and pharmacies.  

However, there are concerns this would just transfer the workload onto already under-pressure GP's. 

Mr Crakanthorp wants all avenues to be considered, and said it's fair enough paramedics are fed up. 

"They're tired of apologizing for attending to patients hours late and they're passionate about their job, they're passionate about healthcare, and when they can't get to patients quickly enough, they're devastated and so am I," he said. 

"On behalf of the community and myself, I'm calling on the government to increase resourcing and wages." 

NSW Paramedics will escalate industrial action starting Monday.