Labor cutbacks force Grafton Hospital nurses to work 20-hour shifts

29 July 2009

Ongoing Labor cutbacks are forcing nurses at Grafton Base Hospital to work 20-hour shifts, putting staff and patients at risk, according to Clarence Nationals MP Steve Cansdell.

Mr Cansdell said he had been tipped off about the practice by a hospital staff member too frightened to give his or her name for fear of reprisals from the State Government.

“I am confident the letter I received is fair dinkum,” Mr Cansdell said.

“The fact the author had to come to me anonymously is symptomatic of the frankly corrupt culture of Labor’s health bureaucracy, but hardly surprising considering what Labor has done to health whistleblowers in the past.”

The unnamed nurse claims North Coast Area Health Service boss Chris Crawford is refusing to sign up on new nursing positions and as a result nurses have had to work up to 20 hours straight.

“This is unhealthy and dangerous, not only for the staff members but for the patients in their care,” the letter says.

“It is also for this reason nurses have left the area in search of more regular and stable work elsewhere.”

Mr Cansdell said Minister for Health John Della Bosca needed to intervene immediately to pull Mr Crawford in to line and resolve the crisis.

“I don’t want a witch hunt into the leak, I want resources allocated so that our hard working Clarence nurses can do their job safely,” Mr Cansdell concluded.