01-07-2025
Midwives and supporters protest cuts to staffing at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred hospital
Midwives and supporters rallied outside the Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Camperdown on Tuesday, protesting against cuts to the number of staff deployed across the birth and delivery unit. The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association says the reductions will mean the hospital won't be able to provide one midwife to each woman. O'Bray Smith, the association's president, said nine beds in the maternity ward would be cut, warning that 'women will be pushed out faster than they already are'. Ryan Park, the NSW health minister, told reporters: 'I want to make it clear, no one in RPA is losing their jobs.' He said that midwives were being 'redeployed in other parts of maternity services' due to 'a slight reduction in birth rates at RPA'. Park added that the NSW government used a model called Birthrate Plus to determine the level of staffing in birthing and maternity services, a model that he said had been endorsed by the nurses and midwives' association
