Tamworth nurses hold strike, call for change to Tamworth hospital in 'crisis'

The remaining specialist kids staff from the Tamworth hospital ward were used to care for mothers, after both wards were combined due to short-staffing.

"We're a specialty," one nurse told the Leader.

"To go to adults, we don't know how to look after adults. People haven't done it for 10, 20, 30 years. It's unsafe for everyone."

Striking nurses from the hospital told a strike meeting they are routinely being asked to work double, 16-hour shifts, to work days off, and even to treat scores of patients alone.

One nurse estimated she would be asked to work extra hours every single day of the week.

Another said Tamworth hospital was "shortstaffed, everyone's doing double-shifts, run off our feet, no breaks..."

"I've gone to pretty much every hospital at this point, and it's the same everywhere."

About one hundred Tamworth nurses and allied health professionals defied a ban by the Industrial Relations Commission and walked off the job on Tuesday.

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The industrial action - part of the first state-wide nurses' strike in a decade - was designed to force the government to adopt minimum nursing staffing ratios, improve pay and more.

At a rally outside Tamworth hospital, NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association representatives led an impromptu meeting, holding votes to repeat strike action until the government buckles.

Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said the Tamworth hospital feels like a "war zone".

"I can see that we'll have to do this again, if they do not listen to us and make some real change," she said.

She said the conditions in the hospitals are "criminal".

"I have been nursing since 1980 and I've never worked in conditions like it is now," she said.

"Nurses go home exhausted, they haven't had their breaks, they're worried about all the care they didn't get to, because there wasn't enough of us."

Nationals MP for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall broke ranks on Tuesday to back the union's day of action and commit to "fully support their efforts to secure better pay and conditions".

"I'll be using the first parliamentary sitting week of 2022 this week to deliver a speech in support of our local nurses and midwives and I will also be meeting face-to-face with the minister to advocate on behalf of our local frontline health workers," he said.

"As the member for Northern Tablelands, I'll continue to do everything I can as a local to support and fight, in word and action, for our local nurses and health staff."

A spokesperson for NSW Health said the strike "caused minor disruptions and delays to health services throughout the state".

"These disruptions and delays mainly related to elective surgeries and some community health services," she said.

"Despite the strike action instigated by the union, in defiance of the Industrial Relations Commission's Orders, our hospitals maintained life preserving staff."

The spokesperson said that both the state government and NSW Health have engaged in talks with the union and remain committed to reaching a resolution in the best interests of our patients and healthcare workers.

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