An historic moment for mental health nurses
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch)
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch) welcomes the historic commitment from the Carroll Government to legislate minimum mental health nurse-to-consumer ratios in public mental health acute services.
If re-elected the Carroll Government will introduce minimum mental health nurse-to-consumer ratios in acute adult and acute child and adolescent units with supernumerary in charge.
The announcement made today with both ANMF and HACSU present also includes a ratio for Secure Extended Care Units (SECU) and formalising the intensive care area (ICA)/high dependency unit (HDU) ratio as 1:2.
Mental health public sector health services are currently staffed according to a staffing profile in the Victorian Mental Health Services enterprise agreement.
The proposed legislated and enforceable mental health nurse-to-consumer ratios, which will require almost 160 additional equivalent full-time mental health nurses, are:
- Acute adult units: morning shift 1:4 plus in charge; afternoon shift 1:4, plus in charge; night duty 1:8, plus in charge
- Acute child and adolescent units: morning shift 1:4, plus in charge; afternoon shift 1:4, plus in charge; night duty 1:8, plus in charge
- Secure Extended Care Units (SECU): morning shift 1:4, plus in charge; afternoon shift 1:4, plus in charge; night duty 1:8, plus in charge
- Intensive Care Areas (ICA)/ High Dependency Units (HDU): 1:2,
"Introducing mental health nurse-to-consumer ratios to the mental health sector will transform mental health nursing for our members and the consumers they work with in the provision of treatment, care and support" said ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Maddy Harradence.
"It's a monumental commitment and a huge step in the right direction and we'll be advocating strongly that ratios are extended to all bed based mental health units in the first mental health amendment to the Safe Patient (Nurse to Patient and Midwife to Patient) Care Act 2015.
"It recognises mental health nurses as an equal and important specialty within the nursing profession. It treats mental health services as equally important as general health services. It recognises there is a higher mental health nursing vacancy rate, and we need an enforceable minimum staffing mechanism.”
"Nursing ratios will help keep mental health nurses in the workforce and is testament to their strong advocacy for many years on this issue."
"It also takes as fact what we already know about ratios from the general nursing sector: there is a clear relationship between consumer and patient outcomes, reduced re-admissions and nurse workloads."
"Nursing ratios in public mental health will change lives," said Ms Harradence.
ANMF and our members have consistently advocated and campaigned for ratios to be universal and introduced into mental healthcare.
Victoria was only the second place in the world, after California in the US, to secure mandated ratios – on 31 August 2000 – and was the first to implement ratios into the public health system in 2001, via the public sector general agreement. Ratios were later put into law by the Andrews Government following a 2014 election commitment to enshrine the ratios in the public sector EBA into legislation with the Safe Patient Care Act 2015.
However, this legislation includes an exemption for mental health services and does not cover nurses working in mental health. ANMF achieved minimum nursing staffing levels in bed-based services in the latest enterprise bargaining agreement as an important foundation step towards achieving nurse to consumer ratios. This commitment will enshrine minimum safe staffing levels in mental health into law.
The Carroll Government has also committed to a review of the Health Services Regulations 2024 with a view to introducing safe minimum staffing in private hospitals.
About us:
The ANMF (Vic Branch) has over 112,000 members – nurses, midwives and aged care personal care workers – across the Victorian health and aged care sectors.
Contact details:
Media contact: Liz Ascroft 0498 556 231