Victorian nurses’ industrial action
Industrial action by nurses in Victoria, Australia, over wage claims and preserving nurse-to-patient ratios was withdrawn in late November after an employment tribunal order.
The two-week-long action was reported to have seen hundreds of public hospital beds closed and elective surgery cancelled. The Australian Nursing Federation (Victorian branch) public sector nurses are seeking an 18.5 per cent increase over a 44-month contract and to retain, and in some cases improve, its current nurse-to-patient ratios. The Victoria Hospitals’ Industrial Association (VHIA) had taken the ANF to the Fair Work Australia tribunal, which issued a stop order against the action on 25 November. The union complied. On 28 November, the ANF released a letter it had sent to Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu, calling for him to follow up his commitment to negotiating a “fair outcome” to the benefit of nurses, the health system and Victorians.
In the letter, ANF Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the key difficulty in reaching a settlement was the application of nurse/midwife-to-patient ratios. “The VHIA, on behalf of public health services and government representatives, refuse to budge from their desire to allow individual health services total flexibility to deviate from the prescribed nursing numbers and skill mix, although they state publicly that existing nurse-to-patient ratios are not under threat,” she wrote. “Victorian nurses and midwives seek to both maintain and in some areas improve the existing ratios in light of the increased acuity and number of patients accessing our health system.” The nurses were to meet again in early December.
Minister appoints new Nursing Council members
An Auckland general practice nurse leader and an Auckland general practice manager have been announced as new ministerial appointments to the Nursing Council.
Catherine Abel-Pattinson has been a senior manager at New Zealand’s largest general practice organisation, ProCare Health Limited, for the past five years. The registered nurse has worked in a range of clinical and managerial roles in the public and private sectors. She attended the European Health Leaders Programme in France in 2009 as a Johnson & Johnson Scholarship recipient; and in 2008 she was a runner-up for the
Glenys Baldick Memorial Award for Emerging Leaders in Health.
She is joined by new lay member appointment Lesley Goring, who is the managing director of a large general practice in West Auckland and is currently a director of ProCare Network Limited. The two new appointments replace outgoing nurse member Beverley Rayna, who has been a member of the council for 11 years, and lay member Dame Margaret Millard, who has been on the council for nine years.
Ministry appoints new nursing advisors
Two senior nursing advisors have joined Chief Nurse Jane O’Malley at the Ministry of Health’s chief nurse business unit. O’Malley said she was really pleased to have Emma Mold and Paul Watson join her team. “They are good people and have huge amounts to offer to the portfolio.” Emma Mold is a respiratory clinical specialist who worked in community health for Capital & Coast District Health Board and had joined the Ministry of Health Health CERT team before being seconded to the chief nurse business unit on the departure of Christine Andrews. O’Malley said Dr Paul Watson had a comprehensive background but had specialised in child health for more than a decade. “Given the focus of the Prime Minister and the ministry on child health he will have a lot to do,” O’Malley said. Watson was previously working in a joint role in child health for Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Canterbury District Health Board. O’Malley said both advisors had “huge credibility” in the sector and she was looking at how to best use their knowledge and expertise.
New chair of Mental Health Directors of Nursing group
The Mental Health Directors of Nursing group has recently voted in a new chair. Lois Boyd, the mental health nurse consultant for Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, was appointed the new chair in late November. Outgoing chair,
Alex Craig of Waitemata District Health Board, said she was very pleased to be handing over the role to Boyd’s very capable leadership. Boyd has been mental health nursing leader at Nelson Marlborough DHB and a member of the national leaders’ group since 2005. She has worked clinically in acute in-patient and community mental health settings and as a researcher and trainer in supported housing and early intervention services. She received a Families Commission innovative practice grant for her recently published research on mental health services’ responses to families.
