CAMPAIGNERS calling for better nurse-to-patient ratios at Muswellbrook District Hospital have made one more appeal to local candidates before this weekend’s state election.
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Muswellbrook Hospital currently has a ratio of one nurse to five patients in general wards.
This is lower than many metropolitan and larger regional hospitals, which have a one-in-four ratio.
NSW Nurses Association Muswellbrook branch delegate Adrian King says he has been pushing for an improved ratio for the past seven years.
“The patients up here are coming in with the same problems as in Sydney so we want all of the candidates to support us,” he says.
“We want someone who’s going to head down to Sydney and say ‘no hang on, we want better’, instead of just taking whatever we’re given.
“We’ve got a lot of nurses at the moment asking ‘who should we vote for?’ and ‘who’s going to look after us the best?’”
Nurses also rallied outside the Muswellbrook Post Office in early February to show their concern over providing safe health care.
Muswellbrook hospital manager Wendy Hordern earlier said the community needed to feel confident it was equipped to look after the welfare of patients.
