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Victorian Psychiatric Nurses and Clinicians Call for Action
19 October 2007
Yesterday, Victorian Psychiatric Nurses and Clinicians met in Melbourne and voted to approve an industrial campaign for a real investment into mental health.
The meetings called on the union to make application for protected action across Victoria's 21 mental health employers.
After the meeting, HSU Branch Secretary Lloyd Williams said "Psychiatric Nurses and Mental Health Clinicians are campaigning for real investment into mental health. They want immediate action on improved staffing in inpatient units and reduced workloads for psychiatric nurses and clinicians in the community".
"The Mental Health workforce is under sustained and ongoing pressure with psychiatric nurses and mental health clinicians having to endure daily staff shortages, assaults at work and unsustainable levels of stress in trying to meet unrealistic service demands".
"Excessive workloads in community care, unsafe staffing in inpatient units and long waits in emergency departments are continuing to lead to treatment and service failures with half the community missing out on care. Stressful and unsafe work environments are driving down standards and recruitment and retention of suitably qualified staff in the services. This situation will only worsen with projected staff shortages."
"We need a significant pay rise for psychiatric nurses and other mental health staff to help ease the staff shortages and ensure we can recruit and retain the best workforce. We need the State Government to employ more staff so that people with mental illness get the service they need when they need it" Lloyd Williams said.
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