As hospitals prepare for a wave of new infections to peak next month, western Sydney nurses will stage a simultaneous protest on Monday morning to highlight staffing levels they say are harming patient care | LucyCormack LisaVisentin
More than 2700 NSW health workers are stuck in COVID isolation as chronic understaffing leaves hospital emergency departments buckling under surging rates of flu and Omicron.
A NSW Health spokesman said there were 2719 health workers in isolation across the state as of Friday. During the last peak of the outbreak in January more than 6000 staff were forced to isolate on a single day. A Western Sydney Local Health District spokeswoman recognised the dedication of all staff in keeping the community safe, adding that the nurses’ action would not affect the public.After visiting Blacktown, Westmead and Kogarah hospitals over the weekend, NSW Labor leader Chris Minns on Sunday argued that workers were suffering from the symptoms of underinvestment in the health sector.
“Recurrent funding is $30.7 billion, representing a 98.3 per cent increase on Labor’s last budget of just over $15 billion,” she said.to the struggling health sector the government promised to recruit more than 10,000 nurses, doctors and other staff to hospitals and health services. Doctors have continued to raise their concerns over the decision to end rebates for dozens of telehealth services, as the Albanese government on Saturday agreed to create a new, temporary Medicare item to cover longer GP telehealth consultations to prescribe COVID-19 antivirals.
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