Health Minister urged to intervene as Bendigo Health moves to new anaesthetic nurse model

THE Health Minister has been called on to “urgently intervene” as Bendigo Health moves to replace its operating theatres’ anaesthetic technicians with nurses today, a change that has been met with considerable concern.

The anaesthetic technicians have been offered contracts as theatre technicians, a role with limited patient care, and their positions will be filled by anaesthetic nurses with less experience.

Victorian opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge wrote to Health Minister Jill Hennessy on Friday, asking that she step in and ensure the “orderly transition” of the technicians to nurses, rather than “the sudden and imminent removal of the role”.

“It seems like a situation that hasn’t been managed as well as it could have been, to the detriment of the patients and the hospital budget,” Ms Wooldridge told the Bendigo Advertiser.

Ms Wooldridge said it was her understanding that none of the technicians had accepted the new contract, although Bendigo Health’s acute health executive director Robyn Lindsay said all the affected employees would continue working in the department.

Senior anaesthesia professionals are apprehensive that the “rapid progression” to the new model will disrupt waiting lists and affect Bendigo Health’s ability to provide safe after-hours emergency surgical services.

Ms Wooldridge suggested the anaesthetic technicians be encouraged to train as anaesthetic nurses, which would allow Bendigo Health to retain their experience and provide a more gradual move to the new model.

She said the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation was also in support of a steadier transition in the move to the mandated three-to-one patient-nurse ratio.

But a spokesperson for Ms Hennessy said the new model would deliver improvements to patient care with the employment of highly skilled anaesthetic nurses.

They said it would also bring Bendigo Health into line with the organisational practices of similar hospitals in the state.

“We have been advised that Bendigo Health has actively supported the affected staff and made every effort to manage the transition in the interests of staff,” the spokesperson said.

There were also concerns that a shortfall in anaesthetic nurses would see Bendigo Health reliant on agency workers to fill the gaps, which Ms Wooldridge said would be more costly.