Motions

International Midwives and Nurses Days

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (11:35): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises both International Nurses Day and International Midwives Day;

(b) notes their key themes, 'Nurses: a voice to lead—a vision for future healthcare' and 'Midwives: changing the world one family at a time';

(c) notes that International Nurses Day is celebrated all around the world every year on 12 May;

(d) notes that International Midwives Day is celebrated all around the world every year on 5 May; and

(e) sincerely thanks all nurses, midwives and care assistants for the important work that they do in our communities, hospitals and homes.

As to paragraph (b), I will explain this in a minute. Thank you very much to the parliament for the capacity for all of us to move private members' motions such as this to recognise the important work that so many in our community undertake. I did allude to 'I will explain this in a minute', but the best research sometimes falls flat, is all I will say. The motions were moved last year and the chaos of the parliament has caught up with us with some wording, but I will correct the themes during the course of my speech. But I explain to members that the motion as moved does have a little bit of folly in it regarding wording—not that they are not important themes but I will explain it in a moment.

I also would like to acknowledge some really amazing people who have joined us today in the gallery. I will just list their names and not talk about where they work. They all know they are incredible leaders in our community. They are: Dr Julie Fleet; Professor Jeroen Hendriks; Dr Kevin O'Shaughnessy; Associate Professor Lynette Cusack; Jancy Roy; Tiggy Koshy; Mariamma James; Yolanda Pinda; Dr Angela Brown; Associate Professor Frank Donnelly; Sue Lushington; Kylie South; Janet Cashmore; Professor Mary Steen; Rosemary De Fazio; Adjunct Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars, of course the leader of the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation—thank you for your ongoing support in this place; Tricia Bates; Gill Stanton; Zoe Yates; Paula Medway; Alison von der Borch; Sue Burton; Leanne Wells; and Angela Faulkner.

If I have missed anyone I humbly apologise. All of you play a very important role in our community and I admire your strength and resilience. Thank you for your friendship that is ongoing and relentless.

Last Wednesday, 5 May, was International Day of the Midwife. The actual theme 'Follow the data: invest in midwives' is a very important theme. Yearly, the International Confederation of Midwives inspires leaders, decision-makers and bean counters around the world to invest in quality midwifery care, but this year they have made a statement: that is what needs to be done.

Of course, midwives undertake a whole range of work, including sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent healthcare, education and support. The 2021 State of the World's Midwifery report was also launched last week. It is a pretty confronting read. It is produced by a number of global partners, including the WHO and the Confederation of Midwives. It is used to inform investment with an evidence-based foundation. Who knew that nurses and midwives were evidence based?

Within the report is a detailed analysis on the impact of midwifery care globally, on maternal and newborn health outcomes, with the global mission of best practice midwifery care to reduce the global maternity mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. It is a lofty ambition, but surely in this day and age we can achieve this. The report identifies that there is a global shortage of some 900,000 midwives. To think that I used to think it was really hard to staff a hospital and find 50 staff for a shift: imagine trying to lump it together and find 900,000 skilled midwives.

How do we speak about any kind of health care without speaking about the pandemic? The journey to the other side is a challenge, and now we must invest in our hospital and health systems more than ever. The theme of 'follow the data' is highly appropriate. However, what was the journey like during the pandemic? The stories I was told, the cries that I heard from midwives throughout the pandemic, were those of absolute despair about their loss of skin-to-skin contact with the mothers, families and babies they were caring for. The loss of the ability to hold people close and offer that connection and support during the birthing process is something that people really found difficult to get through.

We received representation not just from midwives but from expectant grandparents about the worry of their daughter or their son having their first birthing experience in an environment where people are clad in plastic and masks. That, to me, demonstrates the understanding people have in our community about the importance of the midwife and the knowledge of the midwives' value in terms of that love and care they can offer families during the time that is so challenging for them.

They talked to me about the challenges of doing antenatal classes via Zoom. Well, turn the camera on, Jan! The microphone-camera issue that we all face must have been magnified for midwives trying to show that support and love to people. Amongst all of that, in South Australia we broke new ground. I am so proud. I think I am the first Labor opposition person in a long time to get a bill through. I think my colleague and friend Katrine Hildyard will get some more bills passed for women in this parliament. We got the safe access zones passed last year with the support of the Hon. Tammy Franks in the other place, with the hard work of all the women, and men, in our parliament.

It was a theme that had support across the genders, across the parties, with some people choosing not to support it, but the majority did. The Attorney-General, Vickie Chapman, with guidance and support, has since got a bill across the line to take abortion out of the criminal code. It is now a healthcare procedure under law and the access is much more improved, so I am very proud of that.

Today we say 'Happy birthday' to Florence. It is Florence Nightingale's birthday, and that is why we celebrate International Nurses Day today: because of one of the most iconic and superinteresting nurses. The theme is 'A voice to lead—a vision for future health care', and it gives us a chance to focus on changes and innovations in nursing and how that will shape the future of health care, and that is so important.

COVID provided us with an incredible set of challenging times to learn from, and we have to learn from that. While we did a great job, because we had great health care and police leaders in the community spreading positive messages and a compliant set of citizens, do not underestimate the stress clinicians were placed under last year. We truly have been let off lightly, and my thoughts go out to clinicians, midwives, nurses and support workers across the globe who are still battling daily with the horrors of COVID.

The pandemic is not over and, frankly, I do not see life as we knew it coming back any time soon, but it is a good time for us all to reflect on those challenges and learn from them because we were not ready. Our government was not ready. The governments across Australia were not ready. There were many things that arose that created problems that we were not able to address quickly enough to save lives and there were lives lost. Changes are now in place forever to make us ready should we be faced with something again like this in the future, and who is to say we will not be?

Our nursing leaders and clinicians—many of them here today—my friends, colleagues and comrades, are so important moving forward in terms of getting this messaging right and ensuring that South Australians will respond in the best possible way.

I want to acknowledge the people who have messaged me over the past few years in my role here in parliament. I have deep connections with many hundreds of clinicians—more than 1,000—across South Australia. Thank you for paying attention to what happens sometimes in here and providing me with support to be your voice. You have to be a brave sometimes and you have to be a bit thick-skinned, but I know that you have my back—and that is not with a knife—so I am very happy to have these relationships. I want to read a few messages out. Comments from the coalface, we might call these. It starts off with a summary, and I quote:

While the government tells us they're investing record amounts of money and they tour and smile for the cameras [this is the reality.]

[During COVID] we were stood down and had no pay for months and were totally ignored. [We have not recovered from this.] We still can't get the supplies [at the coalface that] we need. Shifts don't get filled and we are…exhausted and overworked because we will not ignore a cry for help. [We will stay on at the end of our shift.]

The government is still hell bent on ignoring our psa's and won't negotiate with them or offer them any certainty. [I find them crying in the corridors.]

We have been let down by the federal government who simply have not funded or ran aged care or the NDIS properly. We have people in hospital for months and even years waiting for beds and houses. This has not improved it has gotten worse.

Aged care staff ratios are essential not optional. The federal government has ignored this and the state government is silent on it. As well as the training sector is broken with far too many terrible providers allowed to offer short and online training courses that does not make for good outcomes.

Beds are blocked. Wards are full. Staff are doing double shifts.

Discharges in hospitals that contribute to bed blocking is a huge issue...Doctors do not have the time to review and clear patients, so they stay extra nights and have to wait until the morning. Patients are dictating when they will leave despite being medically clear! [because they are frightened of what waits for them.]

I have pages of these, and I continue:

Aged care—enough said. Adequate training, pay and staffing levels.

Increasing rural services (centralisation of care means moving people from big regional centres when they prefer to stay near their support networks.

I know the person who told me that is here. She does an incredible amount of work in the rural community and I will listen to her. I continue:

Public education campaigns [are vital. Keeping people where they are with their family. The ageing population]…nursing home funding. [All of it is failing.] Public health initiatives across the lifespan that are evidence based, culturally safe, reliably funded to see long term health outcomes beyond an election cycle. [Have long-term vision]…it's a hard sell. Denying code Yellows are called is not helpful. They are a cry for help. Another code yellow (internal disaster) was called at FMC [Flinders Medical Centre] yesterday.

These were denied last week, if you remember. This is because there were 30 patients who were admitted and fully worked up still sitting in the emergency department. There were no beds. Stop denying that it is happening. Start doing the work. Listen and do something instead of denying there is a problem. I continue:

We are constantly threatened with action if we speak out. We must be allowed to voice our concerns.

I am voicing them for you because I will not be threatened. I continue:

We need permanent contracts. We need assurity. Enough of the casual and temporary rolling over. The government promised more and it's worse.

The assisted dying subject was brought up. I will not talk on that now, except to say that we will get voluntary assisted dying through. I am confident we will get this through. I will not sit up until four in the morning again, debating this, to end up in tears and not have this through. The suffering is enough.

I think there is a wish list that is being ignored: a fix for mental health. If it means more mental health nurses and increasing mental health beds, then let's do it, as well as more subacute beds, paying nurses enough to work in them, permanent contracts, skills and emergency departments. Before I retire, please fix this. The urgent mental health service is only open during day hours. This is not working; it needs to be open more. Every day, we have one person who spends 100 hours in the ED. Every day, there are a large number of patients on level 1 treatment orders. The effects can be measured. It is not good enough. Urgent care is unlikely to address any of this in the short term; we need a circuit-breaker right now.

Thank you for keeping this front and centre. The pressure on the whole system is massive. I will keep it front and centre. I know there are many in here who will keep it front and centre: Chris Picton, as the member for Kaurna and the shadow spokesperson for health, does not get a choice, and Mr Malinauskas, as our leader, does not get a choice. We will keep it front and centre for you. I commend the motion.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the next speaker, there are a couple of things I would like to say. This is not to in any way detract from the motion, which I support wholeheartedly, given that my wife of the last 30 years is also a nurse. I want to remind members of standing order 104, and that is that a member who wishes to speak rises in his or her place and addresses the Speaker. I remind members of that. The other thing I would like to say is about a convention in this place, and that is that the Speaker welcomes people to the public gallery, rather than members themselves. As I said, that is not to detract from the motion brought to us today by the member for Hurtle Vale—I congratulate her on that—but I would just remind members of that.