Vic: Nurses say bed shortages worse than state gov t admits = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2000
Vic: Nurses say bed shortages worse than state gov t admits = 2

A spokeswoman for Health Minister JOHN THWAITES says all hospitals last week reported
to the Department of Human Services that 333 of the 360 beds had been opened to alleviate
emergency demand.

But she says the nurses' claim of a nursing shortage was correct.

She says there's a shortage across Australia and other developed countries like the UK.

The spokeswoman says it was for that reason the state government had taken a number
of measures to relieve the strain on practising nurses and to attract others back into
the profession.

She says of the 70,000 registered nurses only 56,000 were working at present.

AAP RTV er/jx/jn

KEYWORD: HOSPITALS VIC 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)

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