Bid for nurses voted down
Last week in the NSW Parliament, a bill to legislate for registered nurses to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days/week in high care, aged care facilities was defeated.
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This is terrible news for everyone with loved ones in such facilities, whose wellbeing will now be put at risk.
It is also bad news for the hard working, dedicated and poorly paid assistants in nursing who will be required to work outside their scope of practice, thus putting themselves and the people they care for at risk.
It is extremely disappointing to read in Hansard that the Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, voted against this. To show such disregard and disrespect for the elderly in our society beggars belief. Surely the one thing we can do for our aged is to ensure they are given access to the best possible standard of care in their final years.
This is yet another example, just like the privatisation of public hospitals, of putting profit before patients.
Shame on Mr Ward and all the other members of parliament who voted against this important bill.
A. Alldrick, secretary, Shoalhaven Hospital Branch, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association
Diversity in schooling
In response to D. Swarts, for a start I say well done on your 30 years’ service to teaching but that just about ends any agreement.
The paragraph where you say, principals, teachers, clergy and visitors can express opinions in various places is simply the opportunity for those to impart upon pupils and colleagues their personal opinions and at times without censure. Not in the private sector can you do this.
You state that if you choose to send your child to a school other than a state school you should pay 100 per cent of it.
To that I say if every parent adopted your opinion and sent their children to a state school the state system would never cope.
Diversity is achieved as an educational outcome for parents seeking a private school education for their children.
A win win for all as the pressure is taken off the public system but that comes as a cost and relevant government funding.
One question: how many underperforming state school teachers have ever been sacked? Answer: very few as compared to the Catholic, private and independent schools.
If you want only state school education you may need to live in a country that welcomes its teachers each morning with “Welcome, comrade.”
B. Cumberland, North Nowra
Future in good hands
My wife and I have recently moved permanently to Callala Beach and brought with us our two city dogs - miniature poodles. They have taken a liking to chasing rabbits.
My wife was walking them, off lead, recently afternoon when they spied a couple of targets and took off. Despite our driving and walking around for quite a while they were nowhere to be seen.
We did come across a group of four primary age children riding their bikes and told them what we were doing. They set off searching. Eventually, the dogs came back home of their own accord. The kids on bikes drove up to our home and saw the dogs and looked slightly disappointed.
When my wife asked them what was wrong they said it was too dark to keep looking so they were going home to make up "Lost Dog" notices to put up around the streets. It seems the future of this country will be in good hands if there are more kids around like this.
D. Davies, Callala Beach
We will pay the tax
Scott Morrison’s new $6.2 billion tax on Australia’s five largest banks is the work of a shyster, in the form of his toothless warning to banks not to pass the tax onto customers as “bank fees”. The tax will be paid by the customers of the “big five”.