Nurses at the Calvary Mater Newcastle have gained the health minister's attention, after running a campaign to be treated equally with John Hunter Hospital. Login or signup to continue reading The nurses are fighting for their hospital to be part of the NSW government's "safe staffing" program. The Mater branch for the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association ran a NSW Parliament e-petition on the matter, attracting 1118 signatures.
It urged the Minns government to name the hospital on its safe staffing schedule. In his response to the e-petition, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park acknowledged the branch's concerns. "I can advise that the matters raised in the petition are currently being considered," Mr Park wrote.
"The Ministry of Health will further liaise with the association and Calvary Mater Newcastle on this issue." The discussions involve the government considering the full-time equivalent staff needed at the Mater. "Once they know what that looks like, they'll make their decision.
I'm hoping we can get this win," said Camilla Smith, the union's Mater branch secretary. "It's all well and good they've said they'll think about it and discuss it. It looks positive, but until we see the Calvary on the list for funding it still kind of means nothing.
"It's a move in the right direction, but at what rate is it moving forward?" Ms Smith added that "we're all a bit despondent to be honest". "We will get there, they're just making us fight a lot harder for what we want. "There's only .
