Health System Understaffing

The petition of the undersigned citizens of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House the devastating state of Tasmania's health system.

Despite the best efforts of healthcare professionals, the health crisis has continued to deepen. Chronic understaffing is placing enormous strain on nurses and midwives, and putting patients at increased risk. The health system is now wholly reliant on the use of overtime shifts and agency staff. This puts unfair demands on healthcare workers, has a negative impact on patients, and is a grossly inefficient use of taxpayer funds. How the health system and workforce would cope with a serious COVID-19 outbreak is unclear. Despite this, the government has been reluctant to take meaningful, urgent action. Every day of delay sees staff conditions deteriorate further, and patients at greater risk.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Tasmanian Government to immediately implement measures to support the recruitment and retention of health workers. These need to include: 

• a commitment to fully staffing the health system
• permanently filling every vacant nurse and midwife position
• employing the additional clinical nurse educators and clinical coaches required to ensure proper clinical support for all staff
• increasing base salary of nurses and midwives comparable to other jurisdictions.