Amendments to the Safe Patient Care Act are supported by a $109.7 million investment. Photo: Victorian Department of Health.
The Victorian Labor Government is delivering more nurses to the state’s public hospitals by strengthening nurse-to-patient ratios.
Introduced under the Labor Government, the ratios ensure patients receive the nurse care they need by setting minimum staffing levels.
Legislation is set to be introduced this term to strengthen the ratios, adding 253 full-time-equivalent nursing positions to the state education system.
Amendments to the Safe Patient Care Act are supported by an investment of $109.7 million.
The new law will reclassify 26 hospitals to a higher level, including 17 in rural and regional areas. The changes will formalise, in law, a rise in required staffing levels, reflecting higher demand.
This staffing boost will be spread across general medical and surgical wards, ICUs and EDs. The hospitals to benefit are:
- Maryborough
- Maroondah
- Mercy Women
- Royal Women’s
- Werribee Mercy
- Angliss
- Bendigo Health
- Latrobe Regional
- Shepparton
- Bairnsdale
- Echuca
- Sale
- Swan Hill
- West Gippsland
- Rosebud
- Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital
- Victorian Heart Hospital
- Sandringham
- Wimmera
- Wodonga
- Wonthaggi
- Ararat
- Colac
- Wangaratta
- Hamilton
- Ballarat Base Hospital.
The government hopes the stronger staffing ratios will improve patient care while reducing pressure on nurses, preventing burnout and retaining personnel.
“When you’re sick, nothing compares to the gold-standard care of a nurse in a Victorian public hospital,” Premier Jacinta Allan said.
Additional roles will also create opportunities for work for early-career nurses. The government has delivered a 28.4 per cent pay rise for nurses.
Minister for Health Harriet Shing said: “By supporting our nurses, we are also making sure Victorians get the best care when and where they need it.”
