Nurses working at $2.30 billion claim that hospitals are overcrowded and that they have to treat patients after teams of ambulances, which is likely to put the patients at risk.
The problem was compounded by the fact that patients who could not be treated had to wander in hospitals, and nurses sometimes had to start treating patients in waiting rooms outside the emergency room, they said.
The carers' association worries that if these problems are not resolved, they could lead to accidental deaths, which could affect the health industry as a whole.
Elizabeth Dabars, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Nurses and Midwives Association (Australian Nursing andMidwifery Federation), said: "there are not enough nurses in the hospital to be assigned to ambulances for patients. It's a ridiculous scene to have a nurse go to an ambulance to treat critically ill patients for a few hours, and it's totally unacceptably unacceptable. "
Yesterday, one person waited 12 to 24 hours for a hospital bed in the emergency room, with four patients waiting for 12 to 24 hours.
Health Secretary Stephen Wade says he's already addressing nurses' concerns. "I'm working with managers, nurses and other front-line clinicians to address overcrowding and patient diversion in hospitals," he said. "these are the core issues."
Opposition health spokesman asked the government to draw up plans to deal with overcrowding in winter hospitals. "now we should talk less and work more."