Victorian hospitals will get 600 new nurses and midwives, along with a new $50 million education fund, under changes aimed at improving nurse-to-patient ratios in public hospitals, the State Government has announced.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the changes would be made through amendments to existing legislation which enshrined nurse-to-patient ratios.
He said the new staff would work in key areas experiencing shortages, such as emergency departments, oncology and stroke units, birthing suites and special care nurseries, and palliative care.
Mr Andrews said the changes to the Safe Patient Care Act 2015 will be introduced in August.
"We don't just lead our nation, we in fact lead the world, when it comes to mandated staffing levels that we know are central to better care, better outcomes and managing the workload that is synonymous with our modern health system," he said.
"It is the best way to value our nurses and midwives to fund them properly, to recruit enough of them and to make sure they've got those legislated ratios as a backup, always valuing the work they do.
"There are some shortages in a number of key areas and by investing in an innovative way we're able to address those shortages, fulfil those brand new ratios and deliver better care outcomes for patients."
Nurses union backs changes to '50pc rule'
Victoria was the second place in the world after California to legislate nurse and midwife-to-patient ratios, according to the Victorian branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF).
Before the 2015 act was made law, nurses had to negotiate for particular ratios in their enterprise bargaining agreements.
The ANMF welcomed the new laws and urged MPs to pass the bill.
The changes would include introducing ratios into new areas, and a gradual removal of 'the 50 per cent rule', which allows hospital management to round down staff numbers if beds or cubicles are not divisible by the prescribed ratio.
"A 30-bed medical or surgical ward with a one-nurse-to-four-patients ratio requires 7.5 nurses," the ANMF said.
"The '50 per cent rule' allows the hospital to round down to seven nurses.
"Under the proposed changes the same ward will be required to round up to eight nurses.
"That ratio mandates the number of nurses required for the ward, but management can allocate nurses and midwives with a different patient load."
