Public hospitals in Western Sydney, New South Wales, are preparing to shut more than 70 beds across seven wards due to the mass resignations of psychiatrists. The state government is working to open replacement beds, insisting that there will be no decrease in numbers once contingency plans are in place.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00It's the state's largest mental health facility, but Cumberland Hospital is about to lose two
00:08entire wards after more than 200 public psychiatrists quit over a lack of pay.
00:14Even at the best of times there are significant wait times in emergency departments and it's
00:19looking like these are going to increase significantly.
00:22The ABC understands more than 70 beds will close temporarily in the Western Sydney Local
00:27Health District, but it says 84 beds will open there as part of contingency plans, including
00:3346 at private hospitals.
00:38Other health workers have been asked to step in, including nurses and midwives who are
00:41fighting their own battle for a pay rise.
00:44Their union has pushed back, advising members not to perform work outside their scope or
00:49additional duties related to the resignations.
00:52This is not the job of nurses and midwives in New South Wales to clean up the mess that
00:56this men's labour government has put us in.
00:59The government declined a request for an interview, but said previously workers would be consulted
01:03comprehensively before any tasks were delegated.
01:07At the end of the day it's the patients who suffer, it's also the taxpayers who suffer
01:11when locums are being paid over $3,000 a day.
01:14This week Prachi Brumbutt marked 15 years with New South Wales Health, next week will
01:19be her last.
01:20I feel like I have had no choice but to move to another public mental health system.
01:26She's moving to Townsville in Queensland where psychiatrists earn 30% more.
01:31It is a very difficult decision, I have family, friends, I love my city, I love Sydney.
01:38Queensland Health has seized on the pay dispute, taking out ads in Sydney newspapers, spruiking
01:43the state's sunshine and superior salaries, hoping to poach psychiatrists its southern
01:48neighbour can't afford to lose.