'A united front': Wagga's healthcare workers rally for better work lives

About 100 allied health workers rallied at Wagga Base Hospital on Wednesday, March 19, in response to the workforce retention crisis that has put extra pressure and stress on clinicians and patients.

The rally hoped to drum up support and awareness of the issues allied health workers were facing before Health Services Union (HSU) members renegotiated the new Allied Health Awards in April.

Allied health practitioners include physiotherapists, psychologists, radiation therapists, pharmacists, social workers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, radiologists and sexual assault workers.

Wagga HSU delegate Deonie Burns said seeing so much support from various disciplines within the hospital was good.

"Everybody's on a united front with what we're trying to achieve," she said.

However, an MLHD spokesperson said there was a steady growth in allied health personnel in recent years across the district, particularly in community-based services, growing by 81 full-time equivalent (23 per cent) between June 2019 and June 2024.

Wagga HSU delegate Madeleine Keys said better pay, staffing, and working conditions would significantly impact her life.

"We are working extra overtime all the time because we can't get extra staff," she said.

"Last year alone, we had two fourth-year students, and they went elsewhere because I guess we weren't allowed to hire more people, which means we're even more short-staffed."

Ms Keys said that when one person is off sick, the whole department falls into turmoil.

"It was my birthday last week, and I had to work my birthday because I wasn't allowed time off," she said.

"It really comes down to not enough staff, not enough pay, and for what we go through ... it is a very mental and emotional toll that we pay each day."

Ms Burns said an updated award would provide more staff with better and more training, alleviating the pressure on more senior staff.

"We'd be able to fill shifts, rather than having to rely on staff members doing overtime or rely on casuals who can often be unreliable," she said.

"Mentally and physically, it would be a relief to all of the current staff."

Ms Burns said simple things needed improving, but they would make a big difference to the workers' lives.

"Something as simple as replacing staff when they leave ... [otherwise] we're all sort of left picking up the pieces and doing all the extra work for what would have normally been extra people," she said.

Ms Keys said time off was a significant issue for her as she finds herself and others becoming burnt out.

"We're very tired, very overwhelmed at everything, and obviously, we work in the health system, so we need to come in with a smile on our face and do our job," she said.

"Sometimes it is very difficult coming in on not a lot of sleep, having to do overtime, extra call, sometimes you can be up from midnight to 9am and have to come in the next day to do a full day shift.

"More staff and better pay and conditions would help with that."

HSU secretary Gerard Hayes joined Wagga workers at the rally and said it was about award reform.

"We are at risk of losing these clinicians if we don't shake things up," he said.

"We need to attract and retain more clinicians ... the alternative is longer wait times, and people may have to travel further from home for treatment."

An MLHD spokesperson said the district had invested in supporting allied health clinicians across the region, including through the Rural Allied Health Student Educator Pilot Program, strong recruitment packages and incentives for hard-to-fill positions.

"The [pilot] program is enticing allied health students to undertake clinical placements in the regions and take up full-time roles in rural, regional and remote locations," an MLHD spokesperson said.

"There have been 150 allied health student placements. This has resulted in several students returning to our teams to work after they graduate.

"The district also offers support with staff development and has introduced an Allied Health Staff Educator role to grow a culture of teaching and development."

April's award negotiations will be the first in 15 years and coincide with the release of the Special Commission of Inquiry findings, which HSU expects will highlight the need for reform.

An MLHD spokesperson said the rally had no impact on patient care.

Ms Burns said it was important that the rally brought awareness to the cause without disrupting services.

"At the end of the day, we do work in a hospital that has quite critically unwell patients, and the solution is not always going to be to strike or to stop work because that is probably going to affect the wrong people in the long run," she said.

"Hopefully they can see that we're wanting to do the right thing and keep the service going, but still try and improve the conditions that we're working under."

Mr Hayes said HSU was not holding anyone to ransom; instead, they were building community-based support to bolster their case for negotiations, which they had formed in the last 18 months.

"The government will see that we're in Wagga and will be in every other part of the state over the coming period," he said.

"I think it would be fair to say that many in the Ministry of Health will support the changes because I see it as progressive.

"I see it as going to make a difference for the community. And why would you hold back on that?"