Tamworth's NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association speaks out about staff shortages in Tamworth hospital

The union took to the hospital's front lawn in a desperate plea for more resources from the government and NSW Health.

Leonie Goldfinch, a steward for the Tamworth branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association, said the current situation was unsustainable.

She said some staff were doing two or three double shifts each week in the maternity unit alone, which she described as "crazy".

"I don't understand how we got to that point," she said.

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They detailed horror stories including from maternity units around the region that were closing their doors to patients after hours or on weekends.

The nurses claim other smaller hospitals around the region are on by-pass on many occasions meaning patients, including mothers to give birth, are being sent straight to Tamworth hospital because of the critical workforce shortages in those sites.

Ms Goldfinch said during the rally outside their workplace on Thursday that it was "a huge increase for the same staffing".

She said she had seen nurses and midwives leave to go interstate, like to Queensland or Victoria, where there are ratios and they think they're more protected.

"If you don't pick up a shift, that means your co-workers are left trying to deal with maybe two shortages on the ward, and maybe a midwife has been pulled from the ward to the birth suite, and then where do women get their care from?" she said.

"Our morale is so low."

Branch secretary Jill Telfer said it left short-staffed midwives having to clean the birthing suites themselves to get another patient into the room or bathroom after that time.

"We need help," she said.

THE union claims patients are receiving inadequate care and in its plans to file a case in the NSW Supreme Court, it accuses the government of repeatedly breaching award conditions.

Ms Telfer said between 2019 and 2022 - pre-dating COVID-19 - Tamworth hospital was short almost 4000 nursing hours.

That is the equivalent of more than 167 days of work that were not able to be provided by management, Ms Telfer said.

"We are working harder than we have ever done," she said.

"It wasn't like this 10 years ago."

She said staff-to-patient ratios would go a long way to help, but the government - whatever it looks like after the upcoming election - needed to listen and act.

"This government has not listened to us ... I feel like we've heard crickets," she said.

"I'm proud to be a nurse - we need to have a system where we're welcoming new nurses in and we're not overwhelmed."

A SPOKESPERSON from NSW Health said in a statement that the 'nursing hours per patient day' (NHPPD) award system is flexible and allows hospitals to increase staffing where needed.

NHPPD considers the numbers of patients, their complexity, acuity and care needs while allowing for the professional judgement of nurses and managers to adjust staffing levels to reflect the changing care needs of patients," they said.

The spokesperson said that while providing staff above the agreed minimum has been commonplace during COVID, there have been challenged to staffing.

Delays in access to NDIS packages and aged care beds have also had an impact, they said.

"Compliance [with NHPPD] is improving due to a combination of extensive, ongoing recruitment, a record intake of new nursing and midwifery graduates in 2023, workforce strategies and the decreased impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in recent times," the spokesperson said.

"NSW Health recognises and is deeply thankful for the outstanding commitment and tireless efforts of our healthcare workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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