The Minns Labor Government is abandoning NSW\u2019s most vulnerable as more than 200 of the state\u2019s 260 psychiatrists prepare to resign amid a fractured pay dispute. This implosion of the mental health system will leave people in desperate need \u2013 including those at risk of self-harm or harming others \u2013 without the care they urgently require.
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While NSW grapples with the biggest mental health crisis in decades, Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson is holidaying overseas. This comes as the government has resorted to posting helpline numbers on social media.
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In the shadow of the Bondi Junction coronial inquest, Labor\u2019s response to this crisis is nothing short of shameful. Instead of resolving the situation, they\u2019ve doubled down on failed \u201cefficiency pilot\u201d schemes and dragged the matter into industrial arbitration \u2013 a process that will leave the system in chaos for months.
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The Minns Labor Government promised industrial harmony yet all we see are industrial dispute after industrial dispute across the public sector, with no leadership or solutions in sight. The government\u2019s so-called \u201cmutual gains bargaining\u201d has become a cruel joke, forcing psychiatrists to endure untenable working conditions while patients suffer the consequences.
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Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations Damien Tudehope said the impending resignation of over 200 of the State\u2019s 260 psychiatrists is yet another sign of the massive failure of Labor\u2019s so-called \u2018mutual gains bargaining\u2019 system.
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\u201cHaving blown the budget giving their friends in the NSW Teachers Federation a massive multi-billion pay rise, there is no money left in the kitty. Labor\u2019s idea of \u2018mutual gains bargaining\u2019 is a new wages cap of 3.5% for 2024-25 and compliance with unilateral efficiency savings,\u201d Mr Tudehope said.
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Shadow Minister for Mental Health Robyn Preston said the State\u2019s mental health system is in crisis. Rose Jackson spoke in November of her optimism that no resignations would take place.
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\u201cNow, with over 200 resignations looming, she\u2019s on holiday, leaving the biggest mental health crisis in NSW\u2019s history in the hands of Minister Harrison. This is leadership failure at its worst,\u201d Ms Preston said.
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Shadow Minister for Health Kellie Sloane said the implosion of the mental health system in NSW is happening in the shadow of the Bondi Junction coronial inquest, where support for those with acute mental health issues will come under scrutiny.
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\u201cLabor must fix this mess as a matter of urgency \u2013 not just for the sake of the psychiatrists but importantly for the patients and their families and the broader community, \u00a0who are all at risk if a solution is not brokered,\u201d Ms Sloane said.
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Shadow Minister for Regional Health Gurmesh Singh said regional communities are being left behind once again, with the Minns Labor Government failing to secure the mental health services they desperately need.
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\u201cThis mass resignation of psychiatrists will have devastating consequences for vulnerable people in the bush who rely on these critical services,\u201d Mr Singh said.
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Premier Chris Minns himself has admitted the care provided to vulnerable people will decrease, yet his government continues to waste time and deflect blame onto the psychiatrists\u2019 union, ASMOF. It\u2019s a classic Labor tactic: when they can\u2019t solve a problem, they point the finger elsewhere.
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NSW is worse off under the Minns Labor Government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minns Labor Government is abandoning NSW\u2019s most vulnerable as more than 200 of the state\u2019s 260 psychiatrists prepare to resign amid a fractured pay dispute. This implosion of the mental health system will leave people in desperate need \u2013 including those at risk of self-harm or harming others \u2013 without the care they urgently … Continue reading “Minns Labor government leaves vulnerable patients in the lurch”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30863,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30862\/revisions\/30863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}