2022-06-15
Data released today confirms that the NSW health system is in crisis with emergency department wait times at record highs second only to 2020 when Covid-19 lockdowns forced theatres to close, says Greens MP and health spokesperson, Cate Faehrmann.
“We have a public healthcare system that is crumbling around us following decades of neglect and a Covid pandemic that’s exposed the deep cracks in the system,” said NSW Greens MP and health spokesperson Cate Faehrmann.
“The brutal reality is that successive governments have neglected to provide adequate investment that’s needed to fix this. The weight of this failure is carried on the shoulders of our exhausted nurses, paramedics and the other workers staffing our hospitals.
“Understaffing and inadequate resourcing is leading to burnout and fatigue with many nurses, paramedics and midwives leaving the profession while poor conditions are not enough to attract people to start these careers.
“The entire system needs an overhaul and in the meantime calls for better conditions, safe staff ratios and fair pay from nurses, paramedics and midwives must be heard and acted upon,” said Ms Faehrmann.